Six Inventions from NASA

Everyone’s famous handheld vacuum comes courtesy of NASA after the agency partnered with Black & Decker to build battery-operated tools for collecting samples from the moon’s surfaces during exploration. The device was so good at collecting samples that it was quickly adopted for use in hospitals, industry, and your home.
Transcend Brac-kets come from NASA and are a high technology orthodontic innovation in which individual translucent brackets, especially designed for each tooth, work in concert with a thin metal connecting wire to gradually reposition teeth, mouth and jaws into proper alignment. Intended to meet a need for an orthodontic appliance that was aesthetically appealing yet as clinically effective as plastic or metal braces, Transcend Brack-ets are made of a very hard, shatter-resistant alumina with high strength and maximum translucency. The translucency allows light to pass through the ceramic material to the tooth, thereby causing the bracket to appear tooth-colored. The brackets do not stain, discolor, deform or bend.
In an effort to lighten astronauts’ suits and equipment, NASA developed suits with blow rubber molding. Not only did the material shave the 30-pound suits by a third, but the fireproof material also became the cushioning gel used in the soles of athletic sneakers.
Speedo’s Aqualab Speedo now considerd the most efficient swimsuit yet: the LZR Racer was invented by NASA.
Martek, a bioscience company, partnered with NASA to develop a nutritional supplement to sustain astronauts during long-duration space flights. Coincidentally, the supplement was made, in part, of microalgae high in DHA and ARA, two fatty acids important for infant development. When the partnership was over, Martek made a spin-off of the supplement, now found in nearly 95 percent of infant formula.


Radiant barrier technology was developed by NASA over 40 years ago to normalize temperatures aboard spacecraft and stations, but it was not until 2004 that it found a use in homes. The barrier can be applied to increase the efficiency of home insulation, further reducing heating and cooling bills.