A quarterly electronic publication from the

NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program

April 2001

NCTP Overview

Spinoff

* NASA Commercial

Technology

...From the STI Principal Center NASA History Office

STI Program Plan

NASA STI News Other NASA News NCT Program *

Subscribe or

Unsubscribe

STI Fact Sheets

Back Issues

Spinoff

NASA Commercial

Technology Network

( NCTN)
...From the NASA STI Program's Principal Center

NASA STI Help Desk's QuickSearch Service is a Winner

The NASA STI Help Desk receives regular requests for NASA videos from many companies for all kinds of

projects. Frequently, customers are unsure what video footage might be appropriate for a particular project. In

these cases, the NASA STI Help Desk provides a QuickSearch service to locate STI materials that meet a

specific need. The process starts with a customer phone interview, a list of requirements, and a project

description submitted by phone, e-mail or fax. Help Desk staff then executes a customized database search to

identify the required materials and provide the search output via e-mail or fax. During the month of March, the

STI Help Desk completed several successful QuickSearches for video production companies. Two of these

are presented in this issue of the STI Bulletin.

Company A is a non-profit company which contacted the STI Help Desk for assistance in identifying NASA

videos about the first American woman to fly in space as part of a video to encourage girls to study math,

science and engineering. The requester started off with a simple request for footage on Sally Ride, primarily

because that is the only female astronaut name well known to her. The STI Help Desk staff suggested a

QuickSearch on a wide range of topics. Staff cross-referenced several searches to locate footage of women

and minorities by name, project, and task. The QuickSearch produced a customized list of about 20 videos to

provide the stock footage for the production.

The list included tapes with footage of NASA crews discussing their early decisions to study science and

aerospace, actual on-orbit satellite servicing, research activities, shuttle operations and other topics depicting

women and minorities in all kinds of roles as astronauts, mission specialists, and researchers/ engineers. One

video was originally produced by JSC to highlight the work of black, Hispanic and female engineering and

aeronautics professionals and their projects. The customer was delighted with the search results and ordered

several BETA tapes. In fact, she was so pleased with the wide range of footage and topics available that her

non-profit company will probably submit additional proposals to their funding source to do other

documentaries on similar topics.

Company B is a video production company which requested a QuickSearch to help identify footage for a

well-known healthcare company producing a presentation for a professional conference. They want to convey

a sense of long-term commitment, transition, perseverance, adventure, risk, challenge, achievement and human

endeavor in the face of great obstacles. Their idea was to convey these themes using NASA and its space

exploration program as a metaphor. The NASA STI Help Desk provided a QuickSearch to convey these

themes using images of galaxies, nebulae, Mars exploration, space shuttle liftoff, on-orbit satellite servicing,

and the Challenger disaster and NASA's subsequent return to space.

The NASA STI Help Desk has had several requests and video orders from companies, not ordinarily

considered to be in space-related activities, which want to use NASA footage for similar purposes, such as

motivational speeches, company education/ training, and personnel development.

NASA STI Help Desk staff can perform QuickSearches to locate technical reports, video footage, websites,

and Internet documents for NASA and non-NASA customers. If you want to request a QuickSearch for any

information, contact the NASA STI Help Desk at (301) 621-0390 or help@sti.nasa.gov.

CENDI User Education Working Group Sponsors Demonstration of National Library of Medicine

Retrieval and Indexing Systems

On March 1, 2001, CASI staff attended a tour of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and a

demonstration of their retrieval and indexing systems. The program, sponsored by the CENDI User Education

Working Group, was part of a continuing effort to promote education, awareness, and networking among the

CENDI agency members. (CENDI is an interagency, cooperative organization comprised of various

federal-agency scientific and technical information managers.)

The demonstrated systems included the NLM Gateway, the application of Unified Medical Language System

(UMLS) to information retrieval, and a Web-based Indexing System. The NLM Gateway supports fast

cross-database searching. With this system, multiple NLM databases such as MEDLINE, OldMEDLINE,

MEDLINEplus, AIDS Conference Abstracts, and LOCATORplus can be searched with a single query, 24

hours a day, 7 days a week.

A component of the UMLS is an extensive metathesaurus containing over 100,000 concepts classified into

more than 134 basic concept types. This vocabulary resource works with NLM's PubMed

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query ) and Gateway ( http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov ) search interfaces to

expand a user's query statement.

An extended afternoon demonstration addressed the details of NLM's recently implemented Web-based

Indexing System. The system was established to support offsite indexing of technical literature, and includes a

fully interactive workstation with up-to-date access to the various authority files used for subject indexing. The

Home

Subscribe or

Unsubscribe

STI Fact Sheets

Back Issues

Spinoff

NASA Commercial

Technology Network

(NCTN)
demonstration covered system capabilities, workflow management, performance characteristics, and indexer

assessment of the system.

In addition, the attendees toured the Library facilities. General information about NLM services and programs

is available on the NLM home page at www.nlm.nih.gov.

New STI Publishing Tools Project

Bill von Ofenheim, of NASA Langley Research Center's Data Analysis and Imaging Branch, will be the

project and technical lead on a new STI focus, called the STI Publishing Tools Project. This project involves

further expansion of the new Machine-Aided Indexing (MAI) tool, development of XML or other tagged

templates for publishing and linking data to the STI Database, linking of existing tools, such as the NASA

Thesaurus, subject terms, and Report Documentation Page (RDP) to the templates, and other technology

analysis functions. Bill currently functions as the technical lead for the NASA Image eXchange (NIX) and has

been instrumental, along with NASA's Center for AeroSpace Information's Michael Genuardi, in the

development of the web version of NASA's MAI.

STI Outreach and Visibility

The Agency-wide STI Program will be exhibiting at the following conferences for FY 01:

AIAA's Global Air and Space 2001, May 7-9, 2001, Arlington, VA

Special Libraries Association (SLA), June 9-14, 2001, San Antonio, TX

AIAA's Joint Propulsion, July 8-11, Salt Lake City, UT

2001 MAPLD International, Sept. 11-13, Laurel, MD

For more information, you may contact Jutta Schmidt at the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information at

jschmidt@sti.nasa.gov.

STI to attend 2001 Global Air & Space Conference

Representatives from the NASA STI program's Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI) will be attending

the 2001 Global Air & Space Conference, an event held in Arlington, Virginia from May 7th through May 9th,

2001. Sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Global Air & Space also

features contributions from co-sponsors such as the Aerospace Industries Association, the Aviation Week

Group, and Pratt & Whitney.

Global Air & Space 2001 will provide STI with the opportunity to meet government decision-makers and to

have widespread access to domestic and international aerospace technology leaders. Participants of this

conference represent all facets of aerospace business within government and industry.

The focus of this year's event will be on discussing and debating industry trends, government policies and

regulations, market conditions, exploring new business opportunities, and evaluating trade issues critical to

conducting business in the world marketplace.

In addition to increasing the overall exposure of the STI program, CASI will actively participate in the

communication of aerospace information with some of the world's foremost technology leaders. Through this

exchange, NASA STI and CASI will accumulate a wealth of knowledge on how to continue serving the

information needs of the modern aerospace marketplace.

For more information on Global Air & Space and NASA STI's involvement in this conference, please contact

Jutta Schmidt (jschmidt@sti.nasa.gov or (301) 621-0182) or Tim Richards (trichards@sti.nasa.gov or (301)

621-0246).
...STI Program Plan

In part, the NASA STI Program states, "The NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program is an

integral part of NASA's future. The program supports the Agency's missions to communicate scientific

knowledge and understanding to help transfer NASA's research and development to the aerospace and

academic communities.... By ensuring a fast, two-way process of internal and external information exchange,

the STI Program helps NASA avoid duplication of research, time, and cost and to make its wealth of

information available to benefit its customers.... Each Center is responsible for acquiring, tracking, and

producing, or having produced, NASA STI related to their Center mission; and for ensuring that Center STI

reaches the STI Database [at the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information]."

To that end, each NASA Center executes the STI Program mission and objectives by way of a team of

individuals that applies professional publishing standards to all scientific and technical information passing

through its doors. Whether the information will result in a document to be distributed through the traditional

print and mail process or an electronic document available on the Internet--or both--the team is responsible for

making it happen, going through the process step-by-step with each customer. For information about the STI

Program at any NASA Center, visit http://www.sti.nasa.gov.

Home

Subscribe or

Unsubscribe

STI Fact Sheets

Back Issues

Spinoff

NASA Commercial

Technology Network

(NCTN)
...From the NASA History Office

New NASA History Publications

We are pleased to announce the publication of the newest book in the NASA History Series. This reference

work, Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference (Washington, DC: NASA SP-2000-4029, 2000), was

compiled by Richard W. Orloff. This work is a unique collection of valuable statistical information about

Project Apollo. It includes a chapter (about 20 pages each) for Apollo 1 through Apollo 17. There are several

data tables for each mission, plus a 50-page section with additional statistics and tables that merge data for

each mission so you can easily make comparisons. Tables include launch and ascent data, fuel consumption,

stage impact locations, very detailed mission timelines, and much more. This book is for sale for $40.00

(domestic postpaid or $50.00 abroad), from the U.S. Superintendent of Documents. By mail: U.S.

Government Printing Office, Documents Warehouse, 8610 Cherry Lane, Laurel, MD 20707. By phone:

(202) 512-1707 ext.: 30273. By fax: (202) 512-1657. Order stock number 033-000-01236-5. One can also

obtain this book via the GPO Website: http://bookstore.gpo.gov/index.html.This book also may be

purchased from the NASA Information Center, Code CMI-1, NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street SW, Room

1H23, Washington, DC 20546-0001, (202) 358-0000. Order NASA SP-2000-4029.

We are also pleased to announce that one of the most popular books in the NASA History Series, Moonport:

A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations (NASA SP-4204, 1978), by Charles D. Benson and

William Barnaby Faherty, is being reissued in a two-volume paperback format by the University Press of

Florida. The two volumes are Gateway to the Moon: Building the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex

and Moon Launch! A History of the Saturn-Apollo Launch Operations.

Gateway to the Moon includes the first half of Moonport and presents the definitive history of the origins,

design, and construction of the lunar launch facilities at Kennedy Space Center, the terrestrial site of one of

the greatest national adventures of the 20th century, humanity's first trips to the Moon. Moon Launch! is

essentially the second half of Moonport dealing with the actual operational aspects of Apollo. The University

Press of Florida's on-line catalog for Gateway to the Moon is located at

http://www.upf.com/Spring2001/benson_gateway.html and Moon Launch! is located at

http://www.upf.com/Spring2001/benson_launch.html. Each book sells for $24.95.

Long out of print, Moonport is one of the most requested books in the NASA History Series and so we are

especially delighted that it will soon be available in a paperback edition. Moonport is also available on-line at

the URL: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/cover.html. Although this reprint of the book

will soon be available, our on-line version of the original edition will remain accessible on the World Wide

Web.

We are pleased to note that the recent illustrated history of the Ames Research Center, Atmosphere of

Freedom: Sixty Years at NASA Ames Research Center (NASA SP-2000-4314). is now available on-line. It is

available in a .PDF format for downloading at http://history.arc.nasa.gov:80/@mosphere.html on the World

Wide Web. Written by Glenn E. Bugos, this detailed and fully illustrated history of the NASA Ames

Research Center describes its organizational structure, research culture, institutional leadership, major

facilities and research programs from its founding in 1939 through 1999. The first chapter discusses Ames'

origins as the NACA's second laboratory, and wind tunnel construction and the development of aerodynamic

theory from subsonic to supersonic to hypersonic flight. Chapter two discusses Ames' transition into NASA,

its contributions to the Apollo program, exobiology, simulator construction, and the Pioneer series of

planetary explorers. The third chapter describes Ames' positioning in NASA's Shuttle era, roughly 1970 to

1990. Specifically, it covers the growth of research expertise in gravitational biology and planetary sciences,

Earth observation and infrared astronomy, tilt rotor aircraft and helicopter design, air safety and flight

research, thermal protection systems and planetary probes, computational fluid dynamics and intelligent

systems. The fourth chapter describes Ames' renaissance since 1990 in the era of "faster, better, cheaper," and

specifically its work in information technology and astrobiology and its relationships with larger

communities. An appendix summarizes the life and work of Joseph Sweetman Ames, for whom the Center is

named.

Atmosphere of Freedom is also available for public purchase as a book. It is for sale for $39.00 (domestic

postpaid), $48.75 (non-U.S.) from the U.S. Superintendent of Documents. By Mail: Superintendent of

Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954. FAX: (202) 512-2250. Phone: (202) 512-1800

(7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Eastern time). You may also order this book on-line at:

http://bookstore.gpo.gov/index.html on the Web, stock number 033-000-01225-0.

The NASA History Division is pleased to announce the availability of a two-CD set containing pdf versions

of all the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo air-to-ground transcripts. Entitled Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo

Mission Transcripts: The Complete Air-to-Ground Transmissions (NASA SP-2000-4602), this CD-ROM

set captures in pdf format all of the voice transmission recordings between Mission Control and the Mercury,

Gemini, and Apollo missions (through Apollo 17) in space. The CD set will run on both Mac and PC

platforms and will require Windows 95 or higher operating system.

Home

Subscribe or Unsubscribe

STI Fact Sheets

Back Issues

Spinoff

NASA Commercial

Technology Network

(NCTN)
Interested readers may obtain a copy of this publication by sending a self-addressed 9x12" envelope with

appropriate postage for 15 ounces (typically $3.95 within the U.S., $5.05 for Canada, and $11 for overseas

-international customers are asked to purchase U.S. postage through an outlet such as

http://www.stampsonline.com) to the NASA History Office, Code ZH, Washington, DC 20546.

Flight Research: Problems Encountered and What They Should Teach Us (NASA SP-2001-4522) is

Monograph in Aerospace History Number 22. Flight Research was written by Milton O. Thompson, with a

background section by J.D. Hunley. The text of this monograph originated as an untitled rough draft that

Thompson wrote in approximately 1974 (before his death in 1993). Hunley has edited this insightful work

and provided some explanatory background for readers who are not so familiar with what is now known as

NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Thompson was a flight engineer and a test

pilot on programs such as the X-15 and the lifting bodies. Interested readers may obtain a copy of this

publication by sending a self-addressed 9x12" envelope with appropriate postage for 15 ounces (typically

$3.95 within the U.S., $5.05 for Canada, and $11 for overseas -international customers are asked to

purchase U.S. postage through an outlet such as http://www.stampsonline.com) to the NASA History Office,

Code ZH, Washington, DC 20546.

Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950-2000 (NASA SP-2001-4521) is Monograph in

Aerospace History Number 21. Humans to Mars was written by David S.F. Portree. Mars has long held a

fascination for those interested in astronomy and space flight and over the last half century, a great number of

plans have been devised to send astronauts to Mars. Daunting logistical and physical problems still remain,

however. How long would it take to get there? How would we carry the necessary supplies? After surviving a

long journey, what would astronauts do once they arrived on Mars? In addressing such important questions,

Portree looks at a representative sampling of the many humans to Mars plans. Interested readers may obtain

a copy of this publication by sending a self-addressed 9x12" envelope with appropriate postage or 15 ounces

(typically $3.95 within the U.S., $5.05 for Canada, and $11 for overseas -international customers are asked

to purchase U.S. postage through an outlet such as http://www.stampsonline.com) to the NASA History

Office, Code ZH, Washington, DC 20546.

NASA History Website Updates:

The fifteenth anniversary of the Challenger accident, STS-51L, took place on January 28, 2001. The NASA

History Division updated its World Wide Web site on STS-51L, Challenger, because of this anniversary.

The URL is:

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sts51l.html

Links on this page include a series of significant NASA sites containing information about the mission and

the accident. These include the following:

1. STS-51L Challenger Mission Profile

2. Sequence of Major Events of the Challenger Accident

3. Image library of the STS-51L Challenger mission at Johnson Space Center.

4. Movie clips of the STS-51L Challenger mission, from the Kennedy Space Center

5. Press Kit: volunteer Rich Orloff has scanned this pre-launch document in regular and high-resolution

formats

6. Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, chaired by William P.

Rogers.

7. NASA's Actions to Implement the Rogers Commission Recommendations.

8. A description of modifications to the Solid Rocket Boosters from the On-line Space Shuttle Reference

Manual.

9. A Challenger Bibliography: This is chapter 7 of the Space Shuttle bibliography published in 1992.

10. The fate of Challenger's crew: Dr. Joseph P. Kerwin's investigation tried to determine the cause of the

crew's deaths. His report and the accompanying press release are available.

11. The transcript from the mission's voice recorder, which operated from T-2:05 until the accident.

12. Biographical Information on the Challenger Crew.

13. NASA Spacelink Information on the Challenger Accident.

14. NASA Shuttle Web site on STS-51L.

15. NASA Administrator's Statement, on the Tenth Anniversary of the Challenger Accident.

In addition, we have created links to numerous other sites on the web relating to the Challenger accident.

Items included in this listing include:

1. Richard Feynman's Appendix to the Rogers Commission Report on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident

2. President Reagan's Speech on the Challenger Disaster, January 28, 1986

3. President Reagan's Eulogy: Remarks at a memorial service held in Houston following the Challenger

disaster, January 31, 1986

4. Life Magazine on Challenger

5. Challenger Remembered: A brief montage of images and sounds from the Challenger accident, from the

CNN video vault
6. Houston Chronicle's Remembrance of the Challenger Disaster, January 28, 1986 7. "An Analysis of the

Challenger Accident" by Mark Haisler and Robert Throop, from the University of Texas at Austin,

Mechanical Engineering Department

8. "The Challenger Disaster" by Josh Madeira and Nick Rutherford and Robert Throop from the Bowdoin

University, Physics Department

9. A case study in engineering ethics on the Challenger accident, from the Departments of Philosophy and

Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University

10. "The Challenger Shuttle Disaster: A Failure in Decision Support System and Human Factors

Management"

11. "A Disaster in Engineering: The Challenger Shuttle Disaster"

12. Roger Boisjoly on the Challenger Disaster

13. Davinder Mahal's Challenger page

14. Challenger Learning Center Homepage

We hope this material will be useful in reflecting on and analyzing this significant event in the history of

space flight. The Challenger accident remains the most tragic episode in the evolution of NASA and it is

important to understand how and why it took place. These materials may help in this process of

understanding.

Readers of this site may be interested to learn about our revised space policy documents page at

http://history.nasa.gov/spdocs.html on the Web. We have added a number of historical reports from various

task forces and the like and reorganized the chronological layout for easier browsing. This page also has

links to fairly current policy reports such as those on Mars spacecraft management, "faster, better, cheaper,"

and the NASA Integrated Action Team, as well as a quick link to a similar Office of Policy and Plans page.

We plan to add further reports in the future.

We are pleased to announce that the Aeronautics and Space Report of the President, Fiscal Year 1999

Activities is now in the process of being printed and will be available for distribution by mid-February. There

is also a complete on-line version available from http://history.nasa.gov/presrep.htm on the Web.

Anyone interested in viewing the NASA History Office's report for calendar year 2000 may do so at

http://history.nasa.gov/2000.pdf on the Web.

NASA History Receives Award

We are delighted to report that a recent book in the NASA History Series, Exploring the Unknown: Selected

Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, Vol. IV: Accessing Space (NASA SP-4407,

1999), received the Thomas Jefferson Prize from the Society for History in the Federal Government on

March 15, 2001. This prize is awarded annually recognizing excellence in documentary editions and research

tools. It recognizes the editorial team of a documentary history project publishing either a single volume or

one or more volumes in a project that contributes significantly to understanding of the history of the Federal

government. The editors of this volume are John M. Logsdon, general editor, with Ray A. Williamson, Roger

D. Launius, Russell J. Acker, Stephen J. Garber, and Jonathan L. Friedman.

This is the fourth volume in an ongoing series of reference books that are useful for those interested in both

space history and space policy. The documents are grouped into four thematic chapters with an introductory

essay for each subject. Chapter one is devoted to the Saturn V launch vehicle, chapter two covers the Space

Shuttle, the third chapter details commercializing space transportation, and the fourth chapter explores future

space transportation possibilities. Ray A. Williamson is the author of the introductory essays for the first two

chapters. John M. Logsdon and Craig R. Reed wrote the introductory essay for the third chapter, and Ivan

Bekey did this for the fourth chapter.

The work publishes 134 key documents on the history of launch vehicles. It emphasizes NASA's

development of the Saturn 5 Moon rocket, the Space Shuttle as a launch vehicle, the commercialization of

space transportation, and the development of Shuttle follow-on launch systems such as the National

Aerospace Plane (NASP) and the X-33. Each document is introduced by a headnote providing context,

bibliographical information, and background information necessary to understand the document. Includes an

Index and a Biographical Appendix.

How to order: For sale for $55.00 (domestic postpaid), $68.75 (non-U.S.) from the U.S. Superintendent of

Documents. By Mail: Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954. FAX:

202) 512-2250. Phone: (202) 512-1800 (7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Eastern time). Order stock number

033-000-01219-5.

This book also may be purchased from the NASA Information Center, Code CMI-1, NASA Headquarters,

300 E Street SW, Room 1H23, Washington, DC 20546-0001, (202) 358-0000. Order NASA SP-4407,

Volume IV.
...The NASA Commercial Technology Program

An Overview

The NASA Commercial Technology Program encompasses a national network of specialized centers and

organizations that assist U.S. businesses and industry in accessing, utilizing and commercializing

NASA-funded research and technology. The organizations work closely with each other to provide a full range

of technology transfer and commercialization services and assistance. The NASA Commercial Technology

Network (NCTN) consists of the Commercial Technology Organizations at each of the NASA field centers, the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC), the six Regional Technology

Transfer Centers (RTTCs), NASA Tech Briefs, UNISPHERE, and other specialized organizations and services.

All are dedicated to fostering dual-use technology partnerships and the transfer and commercialization of

NASA-sponsored research and technology.

The NCTN provides access to a wide variety of information resources that can be searched and consulted for

research and technology, patents, technical expertise, and R&D facilities, as well as for technology partnering,

licensing, and commercialization opportunities. In addition to serving as an integrated information resource, the

NCTN is developing into an electronic marketplace for NASA-sponsored technology, facilitating

communications, transactions, and partnerships between NASA and the U.S. private sector.

Visit the NCTN website at http://nctn.hq.nasa.gov for more information on the NASA Commercial Technology

Program and the members of its network.

Home

Subscribe or

Unsubscribe

STI Fact Sheets

Back Issues

Spinoff

NASA Commercial

Technology Network

(NCTN)
...From NASA's Spinoff Magazine

About Spinoff

NASA's premier publication, Spinoff, annually features over 40 companies that have successfully utilized

NASA technology in commercial products and processes. Each year NASA distributes tens of thousands

of Spinoffs through trade shows, conferences, and special requests. The Spinoff web site, located at

http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto, contains a searchable database, which includes an entry for every article ever

featured. If you are familiar with companies that have successfully commercialized NASA technology and

may be interested in this unique opportunity, please contact the Spinoff editors, Ms. Sarah Sheehan,

(sanderson@sti.nasa.gov or (301) 621-0244) or Ms. Rhiana Podraza, (rpodraza@sti.nasa.gov or (301)

621-0242).

To receive a printed copy of Spinoff, please contact the National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC) at

(800) 678-6882, or visit the NTTC web site at http://www.nttc.edu.

Special Feature: Excerpts from the Technology Commercialization Handbook

*This document may also be found online at

http://www.nctn.hq.nasa.gov/division/commtechhandbook3_19.pdf

NASA Commercial Technology Network

Recognizing the challenge that technology commercialization represents, the NASA Commercial

Technology Network (NCTN) was established to assist NASA programs, projects, researchers,

contractors, grantees and recipients. The NCTN is dedicated to the timely transfer of scientific advances

and technologies resulting from NASA's aeronautics and space programs and other Federal Research and

Development (R&D) to commercial applications throughout the United States economy. The key NCTN

components are:

NASA Center Commercial Technology Offices;

Regional Technology Transfer Centers (RTTCs);

National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC);

Technology/Business Incubators; and

NASA TechTracS-an agency-wide technology transfer commercialization management system.

NASA Field Centers

Each NASA Center has a Commercial Technology Office to coordinate and manage a full range of

technology commercialization activities, including new technology reporting, technical assistance,

cooperative projects, and industry outreach. Points of contacts follow:

Ames Research Center

650-604-0893

http://ctoserver.arc.nasa.gov

Dryden Flight Research Center

http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/TechTransfer/TechTransfer.html

Glenn Research Center

216-433-3484

http://cto.grc.nasa.gov

Goddard Space Flight Center

301-286-5810

http://techtransfer.gsfc.nasa.gov

Jet Propulsion Lab

818-354-2577

http://techtransfer.jpl.nasa.gov

Johnson Space Center

281-483-0474

http://technology.jsc.nasa.gov

Kennedy Space Center

407-867-6224

http://technology.ksc.nasa.gov

Home

Subscribe or Unsubscribe

STI Fact Sheets

Back Issues

Spinoff

NASA Commercial

Technology Network

(NCTN)
Langley Research Center

757-864-6006

http://tech-transfer.larc.nasa.gov

Marshall Space Flight Center

256-544-4266

http://www.nasasolutions.com

NASA Headquarters

202-358-2320

http://www.nctn.hq.nasa.gov/index.html

Stennis Space Flight Center

228-688-1914

http://technology.ssc.nasa.gov

Regional Technology Transfer Centers

NASA's six Regional Technology Transfer Centers (RTTCs) help U.S. firms access, assess and acquire

NASA and other federally funded technologies for commercial and industrial applications. As part of the

national network, the RTTCs are aligned with the six Federal Laboratory Consortium regions.

Operating since January 1992, the RTTCs have developed a regional network that involves more than 70

affiliated organizations at the state and local levels, enabling them to provide invaluable assistance to U.S.

companies. RTTC services include technology sourcing, technology/market analysis and the development

of technology transfer and commercialization projects and agreements. The RTTCs provide technical,

commercial and general assistance to several thousand customers every year.

National Technology Transfer Center

(NTTC)

1-800-678-6882

http://www.nttc.edu

Northeast RTTC

Regional Technology Transfer Center

508-870-0042

http://www.ctc.org

Southeast RTTC

Regional Technology Transfer Center

352-294-7822

http://www.4stac.org

Midwest RTTC

Regional Technology Transfer Center

440-486-2233

http://www.battelle.org/glitec

Far West RTTC

Regional Technology Transfer Center

213-743-2353

http://www.usc.edu/dept/engineering/TTC

Mid-Atlantic RTTC

Regional Technology Transfer Center

412-383-2500

Mid-Continent RTTC

Regional Technology Transfer Center

409-845-8762

The National Technology Transfer Center

The National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC) enhances U.S. industry's economic competitiveness by

linking it to NASA and federal technological resources. Located at Wheeling Jesuit University in

Wheeling, West Virginia, NTTC has been part of the NASA Commercial Technology Network since

1991.

NTTC fosters NASA and federal technology transfer with U.S. businesses through its National Gateway.

This service provides businesses with rapid access to NASA and other federal technologies, expertise and

facilities. NTTC's on-line services support the National Gateway. It maintains information on solicitations

f i l di h S ll i i h (S ) h S ll i
for programs, including the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, the Small Business

Technology Transfer (STTR) program and the Advanced Technologies Program (ATP).

More information about National Gateway, training courses and other services are available at the NTTC's

World Wide Web site at URL: http://www.nttc.edu or telephone 1-800-678-6882.

NASA Technology Business Incubators

A technology/business incubator is a facility designed and operated to nurture the development of new or

early-stage business enterprises or "client firms" of the incubator. The client firms generally are tenants

physically present in the incubator facility for a period of time up to about two years. However, client

firms of the incubator are not necessarily physically located or co-located within the incubator. The

incubator must have a physical facility where client firms can obtain ordinary and necessary business

services on-site and in which client firms are provided office, conference, laboratory, and/or other physical

space on a fee or other basis under well-defined terms.

NASA incubators are technology-based and provide small high technology firms in the start-up phase

with a wide array of support services necessary to commercially apply NASA-developed technology.

Accordingly, the incubator will provide client firms with services for an affordable fee or other basis,

which include assistance with:

Access to laboratory and other technical resources for purposes of engineering prototyping,

production prototyping, testing, analysis, and other essential R&D support, product development,

and accessing other technical expertise.

Business plan development.

Market research and market analysis.

Establishing initial manufacturing operations.

Establishing product distribution and other sales operations.

Access to business consulting, legal, accounting, tax, insurance, and other financial expertise to

include networking with non-institutional private investors, venture capitalists, and within the

money markets and capital markets sectors.

Free or low cost access in the start-up phase to necessary business office and manufacturing

operations equipment and facilities.

Access to training, particularly with regard to business plan development, venture analysis,

management and organization techniques, computer skills, computer financial accounting and other

business systems design, networking in sectors critical to the client firm's business operations,

regulatory compliance, and available information resources relevant to the client firm's particular

business.

Access to free or low-cost college and university scientific, engineering, and business development

expertise.

Electronic Network/NASATechTracS

One of the key goals in the Agenda for Change was to use the Internet/Intranet in an innovative fashion to

support the NASA commercial technology mission. In 1994, the Electronic Network was established as a

single NASA interface that provides:

an integrated information resource for NASA technology commercialization that is freely

available to the U.S. public and industry;

an electronic marketplace and marketing means for NASA technology, facilitating

communications and partnering with U.S. firms and industry; and,

an Intranet for the management and operation of the Commercial Technology Program.

One of the Electronic Network's core components is NASATechTracS. NASATechTracS is the

agency-wide technology commercialization data and process management system. Every Center's

Commercial Technology Office has a NASATechTracS system.

NASA Commercial Technology Network: This site provides the viewer with information on moving

technology from the lab to the marketplace.

URL: http://www.nctn.hq.nasa.gov

NASATechTracS Tech Finder: This site provides the viewer with a database containing a wealth of

information on technologies developed by NASA that may have commercial potential and benefits.

URL: http://technology.nasa.gov

1996 NASA Strategic Plan - This site provides the strategic outlook for NASA.

URL: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/nsp/NSPTOC.html.
NASA Tech Briefs - This site provides the viewer the ability to subscribe to Tech Briefs, search NASA

briefs archived over the last 20 years, review resource reports, technical support packages and NASA

patent abstracts.

URL: http://www.nasatech.com

Aerospace Technology Innovation: This site provides on-line information on NASA projects and

opportunities in the areas of technology commercialization, aerospace technology development and the

commercial development of space.

URL: http://nctn.hq.nasa.gov/innovation/index.html.

NASA Spinoffs: This web site contains information on NASA technologies that have been successfully

commercialized by private industry companies.

URL: http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto.