NASA spinoffs
The 2009 edition of NASA's Spinoff, a publication that shows how NASA technology is being put to use in everyday life here on Earth, is available in print and online. The latest Spinoff highlights forty-nine examples of how NASA innovations have been transferred to the commercial marketplace, resulting in healthcare advances, transportation breakthroughs, public safety initiatives, new consumer goods, environmental protection, computer technology, and industrial productivity.
Highlights include:
- How a NASA scientist-licensed Hubble Space Telescope scheduling technology and adapted it to help hospitals handle dynamic rescheduling issues. Using the On-Cue system, one hospital reported a 12 percent increase in procedure volume, a 35 percent reduction in staff overtime, and significant reductions in backlog and technician phone time.
- The Givens Buoy Life Raft incorporates a NASA-developed raft design used for recovering pioneer astronauts after ocean splashdowns, and has been credited with saving more than 400 lives.
- An adapted Hubble Space Telescope star-mapping algorithm is helping researchers track the elusive whale shark using the unique spots on the shark's skin. Using the algorithm and a photograph database receiving contributions from scuba divers worldwide, researchers last year documented more than 2,400 sightings of the rare animal. Previously, there were only a few hundred documented sightings in total.
- Using NASA satellite data, WorldWinds Inc. supplies about 8,500 XM satellite radio subscribers with its FishBytes fish locator service. FishBytes helps anglers target areas most likely to be frequented by their favorite types of sport fish.
Spinoff 2009 also highlights NASA research and development activities that are helping to make NASA's future missions a reality and profiles NASA education efforts and partnership successes. It also provides reference information and resources available through the NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program.
An online version is available at http://spinoff.nasa.gov/