Ten Tech Innovations From NASA’s Space Shuttle That Trickled Down to Non-Astronauts

Tech designed for the space shuttle program have permeated just about every aspect of our lives. Here are ten you may not know about
NASA, via Wikimedia Commons

Your life is full of what NASA calls “spinoffs”: ideas or products initially designed for NASA’s particular (and particularly challenging) uses, but which trickled down to become commercial products. Of course, you may not recognize these items–there’s no “made for NASA” sticker, and many of the iconic NASA products (Tang, Teflon, Velcro) weren’t actually designed for or by NASA at all. But NASA-developed stuff is everywhere, from insulation to infant formula, from prostheses to fishing nets. Here are ten of our favorites that originated in the Shuttle program–the very program that just saw its last launch ever.

Click here to see 10 ways Shuttle tech can be found right here on Earth.

 

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Dan Nosowitz is a freelance writer and editor who has written for Popular Science, The Awl, Gizmodo, Fast Company, BuzzFeed, and elsewhere. He holds an undergraduate degree from McGill University and currently lives in Brooklyn, because he has a beard and glasses and that's the law. You can follow him on Twitter.