NASA Spinoff Technologies Project
Velcro and Teflon, contrary to popular belief, were not created by or for use in the space program. Memory
foam was. So were thousands of more inventions. Much of this technology has been adapted for use by “just
us folks.” Several decades ago, NASA created a technology transfer program, which transfers space technology
to private companies. These companies develop commercial products and services.
Purpose: To investigate the benefits of space technology to society.
To assess the benefits of space technology to society.
Website: www.sti.nasa.gov/tto
First, go to the “History of Spinoff” link to read how this program and online magazine came about. It’s
only one page.
Back to the initial website page. From here you can access Spinoff Online issues from 2006 back. It
would be best if you started with at least more current issues.
There are 7 categories: Health and Medicine
Transportation
Public Safety
Consumer, Home and Recreation
Environmental and Agricultural Resources
Computer Technology
Industrial Productivity and Manufacturing Technology
Pick a category that interests you (don’t let that last one intimidate you – there are some really cool articles), or
look at titles of the articles to find one that seems interesting.
2006 and 2005 – You can see the article titles in the Table of Contents.
2004 and earlier – You can click on “Table of Contents.” You have to go into a category. The first
article shows up. You have to scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit “Next
Page” to go to the next article, so it is a little time-consuming.
– You can click on “PDF file.” Click on a category. You still have to go through each
page, but it’s a little faster than the above method.
There are a few blurbs on the initial website page and also on the “View Archives” page (accessed at the
bottom of the initial website page).
Go to that article. Read it. Do you understand it? Does it interest you? If not, pick again. If it does interest
you, great. You must “reserve” that article with the teacher, so as soon as you decide on an article, reserve it.
You will have to report the year, topic, and article title to the teacher in your reservation, so copy those down.
All students must pick different articles. We will spend some class time on computers during the week of
11/13.
You can get a jump on this over the long weekend. If you choose an article you must email me the above
information in order to reserve the topic. I will check my email several times over the weekend. I will let you
know if the topic is taken. jclifford@lindenwold.k12.nj.us
Written: Your paper will be a minimum of three paragraphs.
Paragraph 1 – How, Why, By Which Agency was this technology created for use in the space
program?
Paragraph 2 – How, Why, By Which Company was this technology modified for use to society here on
Earth?
Paragraph 3 – Your assessment of the technology. Is it useful by a lot of people? Only a few? Is it
meant to make our lives easier? To ease pain and suffering or save lives? Was it a good use of
federal money and resources by the space program? By private industry?
The paper can be longer than 3 paragraphs, but it must be organized in the above order.
Due: Monday, November 26
Oral: You will present your technology to the class. You are not allowed to read your paper. You are
allowed to use index cards to help, but you are not allowed to read from the cards. The
presentation needs to be between 5 – 10 minutes.
Due: Monday, November 26 – Friday, November 30. You can volunteer to go first, but in general I
will be assigning dates randomly. You must be prepared to go one day ahead of when you are
scheduled, just in case someone who is scheduled to go before you is absent or not prepared.
Visual: You must have a visual to use during your oral presentation. This is not to be simply pictures run
off of the computer, but you can make a poster that includes pictures /drawings and labels. You can
make a 3-D object. You can bring in an object to represent your technology.
In the past I have seen: a radar gun made out of a Pringles can,
a golf club brought in to illustrate a new metal alloy used on the head (the golf
club did not have the new metal, but that’s okay),
a map that illustrated how remote sensing works,
a poster that illustrated the steps of a water purification technology
Due: Same day as your oral presentation
Opinion Paper: At the end of each class period of oral presentations, you will write a brief paragraph explaining
which technology you believe to be most beneficial, and why. You should reference facts from the
presentation.
This is a major grade; you will be given the grading rubrics next week. This is the last grade of the Astronomy
unit. After November 30, we are moving on to Chemistry.