Ever used a cordless drill?
During the Apollo program, NASA astronauts needed a cordless tool to extract lunar core samples as much as 10-feet deep. Black & Decker provided the fledgling technology, and further refinement of the technology led to today’s cordless power tools.
The cordless drill is just one of thousands of technologies developed by or for NASA programs that have been adapted for consumer products or for the benefit of society at large. The transfer of those technologies into the commercial marketplace will be the focus of a public presentation on Saturday, March 17 at the NASA Aerospace Exploration Gallery in the Palmdale Civic Center.
Greg Poteat, technology transfer officer at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, will begin the first presentation at 9 a.m. and will repeat every two hours until 3 p.m. Each presentation will last approximately 45 minutes.
As part of the government’s responsibility to taxpayers, NASA has established technology transfer offices at each of its field centers to capture intellectual property as it’s invented for research projects. Often, return on the taxpayer investment is licensing fees paid back to the government for use of those inventions in commercial products.
Winglets on the tips of airplane wings that improve aerodynamic efficiency are another example of NASA technology transfer with an Antelope Valley connection. Developed at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia and flight tested locally at NASA Dryden, winglets reduce wingtip vortex turbulence, which results in better fuel economy. They are now in widespread use across the airline industry and on many newer general aviation aircraft.
NASA Dryden operates the Aerospace Exploration Gallery in cooperation with the AERO Institute and the City of Palmdale. The gallery is located at the Palmdale Institute of Technology, 38256 Sierra Highway, near city hall in the Palmdale Civic Center. It is open free to the public Tuesdays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For more on NASA technology transfer, visit www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/technologies/spinoffs_index.html
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Dryden Flight Research Center
P.O. Box 273
Edwards, California 93523
Phone 661/276-3449
Gray Creech
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
Phone: 661/276-2662
gray.creech@dfrc.nasa.gov