Technology transfer has been a mandate for NASA since the agency was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. Technologies developed for exploring space are being used to increase crop yields and to search for good fishing regions at sea.” We see it when we use an ATM or pay for gas at the pump with an immediate electronic response via satellite. We see the Space Economy in the lives saved when advanced breast cancer screening catches tumors in time for treatment, or when a heart defibrillator restores the proper rhythm of a patient’s heart….We see it when weather satellites warn us of coming hurricanes, or when satellites provide information critical to understanding our environment and the effects of climate change.
“We see the transformative effects of the Space Economy all around us through numerous technologies and life-saving capabilities. In a speech kicking off NASA’s 50th anniversary year, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said: It was heartening, therefore, when USA Today recently offered a list of the “Top 25 Scientific Breakthroughs” that have occurred in its 25 years, and nine of them came from space, eight directly from NASA. ”The story of NASA’s tangible impacts on our daily lives may not garner as much attention as dramatic space missions do, but the return on investment to society from NASA’s challenging activities is significant. And anytime you have any type of intensive research organization or activity going on, new knowledge is going to flow from it. So it’s really a very, very intensive research organization. But to do so, you’ve got to do all kinds of research – biological research, physical research and so on.
Michael DeBakey, who has collaborated with NASA on one of its most beneficial inventions, an artificial heart pump, has said, “NASA is engaged in very active research. Happy landings - This low-cost, ballistic parachute system manufactured by BRS, Inc., with the support of three NASA Small Business Innovation Research contracts has saved more than 200 lives.Īs famed heart surgeon Dr. Significantly, both ways of doing business have resulted in remarkable technical innovations that have served to advance progress in aeronautics research, space science and space exploration as well as benefit people on Earth.
But the agency has also encouraged the spark of genius that comes from individual inventors. Eisenhower fretted about the tradition of “the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields.” To be certain, NASA has employed large teams of scientists and engineers in managing its complex missions. In his January 1961 farewell address to the nation, President Dwight D.