document: NASA space inventions benefit all our lives on Earth No , no Tang , but they did develop thousands of other life-changing products Contrary to popular belief , NASA did n't invent Tang . But the space agency 's contributions to people 's everyday lives here on Earth still run wide and deep . NASA 's primary charter is to explore and better understand the cosmos . But much of the technology NASA developed in reaching for the stars has filtered down to the masses , leading to innovations such as more nutritious infant formula and sunglasses that block harmful ultraviolet light . '' `` We get better airplanes , or we get better weather forecasting from space stuff , sure , '' '' said Daniel Lockney , program executive in technology transfer and spinoff partnerships at NASA headquarters in Washington , D.C. '' `` But we also get better-fed children . That kind of stuff , people do n't necessarily associate . '' '' Some of the highlights Some of the technologies most closely associated with NASA were utilized - and in some cases popularized - by the space agency rather than invented by its scientists . There 's the orange-flavored drink Tang , for instance , which was developed by General Foods in 1957 . Or Velcro , a Swiss invention from the 1940s . Or Teflon , a synthetic polymer that has found widespread use as an industrial lubricant and a nonstick coating for pots and pans . '' `` Teflon we get all the time , '' '' Lockney told Space.com . '' `` But that was DuPont . '' '' But the list of NASA inventions that have benefited the public is long and storied . There 's '' '' memory foam , '' '' for example , which today pads the helmets of football players and is used to manufacture prosthetic limbs . NASA scientists invented the substance in 1966 to make airplane seats safer and more comfortable . NASA research investigating the nutritional value of algae led to the discovery of a nutrient that had previously been found only in human breast milk . The compound , which is thought to be important to eye and brain development , has since found its way into 95 percent of the infant formula sold in the United States , Lockney said . There are many more . NASA research led to the development of sunglasses that block damaging blue and ultraviolet light , for example . One-third of all cell phone cameras use technology originally developed for NASA spacecraft . And in the 1960s , NASA scientists who wanted to enhance pictures of the moon invented digital image processing . The technology later found many other applications - particularly in the medical field , where it helped enable body-imaging techniques such as CAT scans and Magnetic Resonance Imaging -LRB- MRI -RRB- . A secondary benefit Since 1976 , NASA has been publishing a magazine called '' `` Spinoff '' '' that describes some of the technologies that have found their way into ordinary folks ' lives . '' `` Spinoff '' '' has detailed 1,723 such inventions to date , Lockney said - and that list is far from exhaustive . '' `` We 've got a very limited page count , '' '' Lockney said . '' `` So there 's stuff that does n't get put in the book . '' ''
extractive_keyphrases: program executive in technology transfer utilized popularized synthetic polymer lifechanging products orangeflavored drink tang bodyimaging techniques eye and brain development widespread leading to innovations earth industrial lubricant nasa human breast milk inventions the technologies partnerships betterfed children run wide and deep better understand the cosmos nonstick coating for pots and pans cat scans medical field applications investigating the nutritional value magnetic resonance imaging develop used to manufacture prosthetic limbs found sunglasses general foods cell phone cameras nutrient tang airplanes velcro lockney teflon ultraviolet light technology dupont
abstractive_keyphrases: people don't necessarily associate space agency's contributions nasa space inventions benefit partnerships at nasa nasa's lifechanging products contrary washington dc