Friday, August 16, 2019

Space Age Spinoffs : Space Program Benefits for All Mankind (1972)




As the space program was winding down there was a need to justify the space program for more than just getting to the Moon. This book introduces instruments and techniques developed by space scientists that have benefitted such varied areas as medicine, weather forecasting, waste disposal, and photography.

 Colby, C.B. Space Age Spinoffs : Space Program Benefits for All Mankind. New York, Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. (48 p.) 28 cm. 1972.


 Laser surgery for cataracts
 Comfy foam for our pillows and beds
 Grooved highways
 Better protection for firefighters
 Improved navigation and guidance
And of course, The Silver Rescue Blanket.  How many of these are around you home or work right now?
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1 comment:

  1. KalebergSeptember 19, 2019 at 6:39 PM

    If not the Silver Rescue Blanket, how about the shiny party balloon?

    The space program had an amazing number of spinoffs. I was just reading Ken Shirriff's blog where he was restoring an Apollo Guidance Computer: "The decision to use ICs in the AGC was made in 1962, amazingly just four years after the IC was invented. The AGC was the largest consumer of ICs from 1962 to 1965 and ended up being a major driver of the integrated circuit industry."

    And not one word on Google Maps.

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