Imagine a Dr. Mary, a young assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Maryland. Mary wants to combine a set of different molecules to form a crystal, one that she believes might offer unparalleled insulating qualities. Her problem is, her Earth-bound laboratory can’t produce the kind of perfect crystal that she needs to prove her hypothesis. Gravity has a tendency to distort the way crystals form.
Read MoreNASA tends to undercut its own argument with its annual report, Spinoff. One tempting picture from the report’s online version shows glasses of beer with the caption, “A system for creating rocket fuel on Mars is putting the bubbles into beer.” While this sounds like Tang all over again, the actual story is far more powerful.
Read MoreFuture space exploration missions may depend on massive solar arrays to provide limitless energy. The problem is, while the cost of solar cells has been declining, they remain expensive. Illinois-based MicroLink has developed flexible cells that can be mass-produced at a fraction of the cost of existing technology.
Read MoreNASA was a pioneer in the development of systems science—the development of methods to manage enormously complex operations. The development of systems science and engineering over the decades went hand in hand with improvements in software engineering.
Read MoreBack in the Eighties, NASA software engineer Craig Collier wrote software at the Langley Research Center to help design a hypersonic spaceplane. While the plane itself never got off the ground, the software did, through the private Collier Research Corporation. Collier perfected his code, called HyperSizer, which allows engineers to model weight and load requirements for various vehicle designs.
Read MoreWhile many spinoffs continue with NASA engineers founding their own lucrative companies, some of the greatest side benefits of the space program work in the opposite direction. NASA contracts with private companies to invent solutions to aerospace problems; the companies in turn figure out other, profitable ways to use their inventions.
Read MoreGovernment missions actually work best in areas of high uncertainty, such as space. Failures not only get spread throughout society, where they can be absorbed without shock to a particular sector or system; those “failures” often turn into business successes. The seeming wastefulness of NASA got encapsulated in an urban legend about the so-called space pen.
Read MoreTo travel to Mars, astronauts will have to complete about 8,750 Columbus voyages of distance.
Read MoreIt really wasn’t that long ago when the two greatest superpowers were vying to put satellites into space. Now, 50 nations have their own satellites in low Earth orbit. If you’re a Thailand, say, you can call Space Systems/Loral, a Canadian-owned company based in Palo Alto, California, and tell them you want to put a satellite into geostationary orbit for television broadcasting or military communications. You can have the thing in orbit 25,000 miles above Earth within two years.
