BENEFITS OF SPACE EXLORATION: TECH TRANSFER

TECH TRANSFER: From the office of NASA’s Chief Technologist: “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! 

U.S. Space Foundation Technology Hall of Fame: 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. 

Sometimes new technology has applications unforeseen by its developers. Sometimes the applications were known ahead of time and guided the development process. This is a great example of the former. The first of the two 2016 USSF HoF inductees is “WATEX Remote-Sensing Data.”

One of the earliest applications of Earth reconnaissance satellites was the search of precious metals. “Dr. Alain Gachet founded Radar Technologies International in 1999 to use satellite generated remote-sensing data to identify probable locations of precious metals. Analyzing satellite data in pursuit of precious metals in the Libyan Desert, Dr. Gachet made a surprising discovery. He identified a significant water leak in the Libyan water pipeline and realized that he could use satellite data to locate water.

“Dr. Gachet developed the WATEX system to pinpoint drilling locations with the highest probability of success. The system uses a variety of data with the primary sources being: NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission; NASA’s Spaceborne Imaging Radar; and the joint NASA and U.S. Geological Survey’s Landsat Program.”

WATEX demonstrated its value during the 2004 Darfur conflict in western Sudan, which forced a quarter-million people into refugee camps. WATEX technology was used to find enough groundwater to sustain the refugees. Since then, WATEX has been used to find water resources in difficult areas, such as Afghanistan and Iraq.

Thank you, NASA, and your industrial partners!

NASA Info Helps All! NASA has awarded $15.6 M in grants for 15 projects that support the maintenance of open-source tools, frameworks, and libraries that are freely available to everyone as part of the goals of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. For more on this story, see: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-funds-open-source-software-underpinning-scientific-innovation.

BENEFITS OF SPACE EXLORATION: TECH TRANSFER FYI

NASA Supports Tech Innovations: NASA has a long tradition of technological advancement and commercialization. They have announced the creation of two new Space Technology Research Institutes, one for engineering tech, particularly in 3D printing and other manufacturing techniques, and the other for climate research; see: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-advance-3d-printing-quantum-tech-for-climate-research. NASA also distributed $5M in awards for research into advanced aircraft manufacturing and composite materials; see: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awardees-to-develop-sustainable-aviation-composite-tech and: https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/nasa-awards-50-million-for-aviation-composite-tech-development.

NASA Supports New Technologies: “NASA has selected hundreds of small businesses and dozens of research institutions to develop technology to help drive the future of space exploration, ranging from novel sensors and electronics to new types of software and cutting-edge materials. The newly awarded projects under the agency's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program also.” For more information about how NASA research needs are being met by hundreds of small companies, many of which will spin-off new non-NASA products of value, see: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-supports-small-business-research-to-power-future-exploration!

Small Business Innovation Research: NASA has for years had a program designed to help entrepreneurs develop technology. They recently announced an investment of $105 million for their Small Business Innovation Research program. The awardees will use NASA-developed technologies for other commercial applications. These programs have the potential to be very beneficial to the American taxpayer. So, the next time you hear somebody complain about NASA “wasting” American resources, cite this stuff back at them! For more information on this wonderful program for all of us, see: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-invests-105-million-in-us-small-business-technology-development and also https://sbir.nasa.gov/prg_selection/node/66870.

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.

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.

BENEFITS OF SPACE EXLORATION: TECH TRANSFER LINKS AND OTHER INFO

NASA Office of Chief Technologist, Technology Transfer, and Spinoffs: https://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/home/index.html

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

For info on the NASA Tech Transfer Office, see:

Overview: https://spinoff.nasa.gov

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

Award-winning Technologies: https://icb.nasa.gov

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

Goddard Space Flight Center Tech Transfer Office: https://technology-gsfc.ndc.nasa.gov

Johnson Space Center Tech Transfer Office: https://technology.jsc.nasa.gov

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