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10 Everyday Technologies NASA Made Possible

“There’s more space in your life than you think!”


Next year, NASA will send humans back to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. And there’s good reason to believe that this new era of space exploration might benefit us in more ways than we realise.


In a recent video we looked at NASA’s Artemis program. Should we be excited? Well, if you are someone who gets slightly giddy at the prospect of lunar colonies and humans making it to Mars – absolutely! But you don’t have to be a space nut. 


A cartoon image of three travel flyers under the banner "21st Century". One says "Come Fly with Me" above Sea of Serenity, Moon Resort with an image of a rocket flying above a beach setting. The second says "Visit Jupiter's Moon" and the third says "Red Sand Temple" above the word "Mars".

Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon may have been taken over 200,000 miles up in the sky, but the ingenious innovation and incredible feats of engineering that got him there impacted life much closer to home, too. NASA’s scientific advances underpin the technology we use today – from GPS and mobile phone cameras to life-saving medical developments.


The space agency's scientists have even been recognised for breakthroughs that extend beyond their original intent. For instance, the digital image processing technology developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to enhance lunar images is now widely used by doctors to interpret MRI and CT scan results.


Still need convincing? Ok, commencing countdown, engines on… here are 10 tech breakthroughs that owe a debt to the space race:


1. GPS

Where would we be without Google Maps? Pretty lost, if you’re anything like me. The Global Positioning System (GPS) was actually developed by the U.S. Department of Defense in the 1970s, and it is still owned by the U.S. military. Raw GPS data can be out by almost 10 metres - not ideal for a system which guides aeroplanes, millions of people and even self-driving cars. NASA developed the software and algorithms to make it the pinpoint accurate system we all rely on today, which can determine our location to within a few centimetres.


2. Mobile phone cameras

In a world of selfies and TikTok, it’s hard to imagine what life would be like now without camera phones. Any time you take a picture or shoot a video with your phone, you’re using technology developed by NASA. Smartphones and digital cameras all contain a chip which converts light into electrical signals to create an image. This CMOS chip (short for complementary metal oxide semiconductor) was invented because NASA needed to make tiny cameras for interplanetary missions.


A cartoon image of a smartphone screen displaying a rocket launch on a social media app, with heart emojis emanating from the like button.

3. Water filters

As NASA looked to send astronauts out on more extended missions, one of the challenges they had to overcome was ensuring enough water on board.  Enter water filtration. In preparation for the Apollo moon missions, NASA perfected a way to filter waste water (yes, astronauts have to drink their own sweat and urine…) and keep it fresh using silver ion filters. This same method is now used to improve access to clean drinking water here on Earth and can even be found in your kitchen if you have a Brita water filter.


4. Memory foam

Originally called Temper Foam, this material was developed by NASA in the 1960s to keep test pilots better cushioned during flights and absorb shock in the event of an accident. NASA noted how: “As a shock absorber, a three-inch foam pad can absorb the impact of a 10-foot fall by an adult.” One of the most widely used spinoffs from NASA technology, memory foam has since found countless uses here on Earth - from shoe insoles and safety helmets to furniture padding, pillows and mattresses.


5. Cordless vacuum cleaners

In the 1960s, NASA partnered with Black & Decker to develop lightweight battery-operated power tools that would allow Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to collect samples from the moon – a place notoriously lacking in plug sockets. A decade after Armstrong’s giant leap for mankind, Black & Decker introduced a significant step forward for domestic cleaning in the form of the Dustbuster – the world’s first cordless vacuum cleaner. The device’s inner workings came directly from the lunar drill the firm had developed for Apollo 11.


A cartoon image of a satellite, a rocket, an MRI scan, solar panels and a smartphone with different coloured shapes behind them.

6. Scratch-resistant glass

Gone are the days when dropping a pair of glasses on the floor would leave you struggling to see through lenses covered in scratches. This is thanks to the scratch-resistant coating NASA developed for astronaut helmet visors. Most glasses and sunglasses now use a form of this technology and, as a result, are 10 times more scratch-resistant.


7. Infrared thermometers

In 1983 NASA launched the Infrared Astronomical Satellite – the first space telescope to survey the night sky using infrared wavelengths. It measured the temperature of the stars and planets by reading the infrared radiation they emitted. This same technology is now used for infrared thermometers which can take an instant, accurate and non-invasive reading of body temperature by measuring thermal radiation emitted from an eardrum. 


8. Enriched baby formula

Nutritional supplements developed to help sustain astronauts during their long spells in orbit are now commonplace on supermarket shelves. One notable example is enriched baby formula. NASA researchers discovered a natural source for omega-3 fatty acids while preparing for future missions to Mars. This ingredient, which plays a crucial role in infant development, is now found in 90% of baby formula on the market.


A cartoon image of 10 NASA workers sat at their desks facing a screen, similar to a control centre.

9. Insulin pumps

More than 1 million people worldwide use insulin pumps to help manage their diabetes. These devices deliver insulin to the body throughout the day, offering an alternative to injections. Incredibly, as this NASA article describes, the development of these devices employed technology pioneered for space exploration, “including a tiny, microminiaturized fluid control system initially used in life search experiments aboard two NASA Viking spacecraft that landed on Mars.”


10. Light therapy

Astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) see 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours. As a result, their body clocks are all over the place. So NASA researched how humans are affected by different types of lighting before upgrading the LED lighting set-up in the ISS. If you’ll excuse the pun, the findings shed new light on how our brains and hormones respond to different colours, temperatures and intensities of light. These insights have been used in developing medical treatments to boost cell growth, SAD lights and LED technology to nurture plants in the absence of sunlight – essential for any future trips to Mars.


As NASA is fond of saying, “There’s more space in your life than you think!”



So, what future NASA tech might we look forward to? With its lofty ambition to put humans on Mars within the next decade, there will be no shortage of innovation to draw from. Current projects in the NASA pipeline include a quiet supersonic jet capable of beating the sound barrier, but without the deafening sonic boom that contributed to the demise of Concorde. Or we might see the rise of Valkyrie – a 1.8-metre-tall humanoid robot which wouldn’t look out of place in a Marvel film. This AI-powered superhero is designed to take on high-risk tasks in hazardous environments. New Scientist’s James Woodford was impressed by a recent demonstration:  


As my time with Valkyrie begins to wrap up, I have a sense that I have witnessed a technology that is the beginning of a future that hasn’t yet quite arrived. My mind is racing at the potential for the science fiction future that fully fledged humanoid robots might bring.

In a famous letter from 1970, rocket scientist Ernst Stuhlinger set out one of the most powerful arguments for the broader benefits of space exploration to life on Earth:


[…] the space age not only holds out a mirror in which we can see ourselves, it also provides us with the technologies, the challenge, the motivation, and even with the optimism to attack these tasks with confidence.

So, as we embark on the next new chapter of space exploration and send astronauts into new frontiers, it’s worth remembering that the ripple effect of NASA’s innovation will likely have a significant – if more down-to-earth – impact on the rest of us too.


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