TEN NASA INVENTIONS IN YOUR HOME

Bound by its motto – ‘for the benefit of all’ – since its formation NASA has had an obligation to foster and transfer its technological and scientific breakthroughs to the public and commercial spheres

Many tools, machines and facilities within your home have their origins in research undertaken by NASA over the past 50 years. Technology originally designed to aid space exploration and land a human on the Moon – an endeavour instigated by US President John F. Kennedy in 1961, where he announced a series of exciting new missions including the groundbreaking Apollo program, as well as numerous research projects – has been successfully and creatively spun off to create some of the staple day-to-day products we now take for granted. From golf balls to gamepads and computers to crash helmets, NASA’s technology has been picked up and adapted by specialist companies who have brought it into the public commercial sphere, delivering new and revolutionary products that have transformed how people live their lives and interact with their environment.

Throughout these pages, All About Space delves deep into the NASA archives to discover the innovative research and inventions that made ten of the most common everyday household products possible.

1 Crash helmets 

Spin-off from 1966 research into impact absorption foam.

2 Cordless tools 

Invented in 1965 to help astronauts collect lunar samples.

3 Personal computers

Made possible thanks to NASA’s adoption of the tech during the Apollo program.

4 Scratch-proof sunglasses

A spin-off technology that emanates from astronaut visor protective coatings.

5 Water filters

Designed in the mid1960s to keep water on board spacecraft pollutant-free.

6 GPS myth buster