BENEFITS OF SPACE EXLORATION: TECH TRANSFER NEWS

TECH TRANSFER: The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 that created NASA called for the new agency to disseminate its technology for public benefit. Accordingly, NASA is obliged to provide for the widest practicable dissemination of information concerning results of NASA’s activities. Subsequent legislation further formalized NASA’s obligation to find secondary uses for its technologies.

NASA’s Technology Transfer Mission

Since NASA’s inception in 1958, it has transferred the knowledge and technology it developed to commercial and other organizations! 

Technology Transfer Office

NASA has for decades maintained a Technology Transfer Office to promote and manage the “transfer of NASA technology to promote the commercialization and public availability of Federally-owned inventions to benefit the national economy and the U.S. public.” Unlike spin-offs, where the new application was not envisioned at the time the technology was developed, tech transfer was usually planned for as part of the development process. In some cases, NASA partnered with outside entities to develop technology that would have both NASA and non-NASA uses from the get-go.

U.S. Space Foundation Technology Hall of Fame

Alas, the Space Foundation has updated its website, making it very difficult to access the still-extant HoF entries. I will continue to showcase the technologies the Space Foundation recognized as a way of documenting the value to the public of Space-related technologies.

Long-time recipients may remember that I have showcased the USSF Tech Hall of Fame items in the past in Air and Space this Week. The USSF recently altered their website to make how I’ve been showing HoF entries less convenient, but I still want to show important and sometimes-unexpected examples of technology developed initially for NASA’s that wound up with valuable unrelated commercial uses when the technology is transferred to the private sector. NASA had pioneered the necessary technologic infrastructure, then turned to commercial partners to allow the full benefit to all of us, exactly as was intended in NASA founding documents.

Sometimes new technology has applications unforeseen by its developers. Sometimes the applications were known ahead of time and guided the development process, sometimes an unexpected application will arise. The First of the two 2009 USSF HoF inductees is an extremely-important of the latter, “Micro Algae Nutritional Supplements and Products from Space Research.” 

The HoF citation reads, “Millions of infants and adults around the world benefit from nutrition technology that began with space research.

“In the early 1980s, NASA’s Closed Environment Life Support System program explored the use of microalgae as a food supply, oxygen source, and waste disposal catalyst on long duration interplanetary missions. Scientists continued work independently after the completion of the program, founding what would become Martek Biosciences, a leader in microalgae research and development. Martek research soon identified (Crypthecodinium cohnii) algae which produces high levels of DHA omega-3 fatty acid (docosahexaenoic acid), and a fungus (Mortierella alpine) that yields ARA (arachidonic acid). Both of these essential fatty acids occur naturally in human breast- milk and are important to healthy infant development. At the time, none of the available infant formulas provided these important nutrients. To address this deficiency, Martek developed Formulaid – an algae-based supplement that could be added to baby formula. DHA and ARA rich Formulaid dietary supplementation can be particularly vital for premature and low birth weight infants who may not get their full allotment in utero.

“The British Nutrition Foundation and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Human Nutrition recognize DHA and ARA as beneficial additives in pre and full-term infant formulas and as nutrients for women during pregnancy and lactation. Formulaid is now found in nearly all U.S. infant formulas and in infant formulas in more than 75 other countries, and is consumed by more than 33 million babies worldwide.”

As Always, THANK YOU, NASA!

TECH TRANSFER LINKS AND OTHER INFO

NASA Software Available for Business and Public Use: The public can now download NASA computational innovations originally designed to support its missions. To find out more, and to access NASA’s catalog of available software, see: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-software-benefits-earth-available-for-business-public-use.

NASA Office of Chief Technologist, Technology Transfer, and Spinoffs: Website closed down

https://spinoff.nasa.gov/pdf/AIAA%202011%20Quantifying%20Spinoff%20Benefits.pdf

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/new_interactive_website_homeandcity

Introduction: https://technology.nasa.gov/network

T2 Portal: https://technology.nasa.gov

NASA Software Catalog: https://software.nasa.gov

NASA Patent Portfolio: https://technology.nasa.gov/patents

JPL Tech Transfer Office: https://ott.jpl.nasa.gov

NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program: https://sti.nasa.gov