There are many many myths surrounding the American space agency. The obvious one being that the moon landing was faked, a scene directed by the masterful cinematographer Stanley Kubrick. This may or may not be true. But we do know that some of the myths about things that NASA invented certainly aren’t true!
1. The Fisher Space Pen
In 1966, a man named Paul C Fisher patented his space pen. Fisher was already an established figure in the world of pens (how exciting?) when he came up with the AG7 or the very first ‘Anti-Gravity’ pen. According to myth NASA approached the pen-innovator to create this ‘out of this world’ pen, investing millions of dollars in the process.
However, Fisher had been developing this project for years and invested $1 Million of his own money into its development. Although this pen has famously been used by astronauts in outer space, it wasn’t Fisher’s intended purpose. All he wanted to do was make a good, sturdy pen that wouldn’t leak all over the place.
2. Teflon
Once given the title of ‘The Slipperiest Substance in Existence’ by the Guiness Book of World Records, we mostly use the substance for just that reason nowadays i.e. in non-stick pans. It was originally invented by accident however by a scientist called Dr Roy Plunkett in 1938. Plunkett would’ve been a much more fun name for the stuff don’t you think?
Anyway, this scientist was trying to find a new refrigerant and came up with Teflon. He found that the substance was slippery, chemically stable and had a high melting point. For this reason it was used by the military and in industrial applications, before becoming a popular non-stick coating in the 60s.
NASA use Teflon for a variety of applications, such as in space suits or heat shields. But as you can see they did not invent it like many people believe; Dr Plunkett did.
3. The Bar Code
Today we have lots of variations on that thing that goes bleep at the supermarket, such as QR Codes example. But believe it or not there was a time that bar codes didn’t exist! An engineer by the name of Joseph Woodland came up with the idea behind the modern bar code. He was pondering the idea of a symbol that would translate to a series of numbers when scanned and thus would identify a product.
The very first bar code wasn’t called a bar code and took the form of a bull’s eye, which is pretty random. This wasn’t widely used until George Laurer of IBM came up with the rectangular design in the early 70’s. Nevertheless, many believe that NASA invented the bar code and even they will tell you themselves that they didn’t! They did however invent a type of bar code that would withstand a harsh environment.
4. Velcro
As you can see from our latest infographic, NASA uses Velcro a lot! It comes in handy so that things don’t just up and float away. Houston, I’ve lost the loo roll... This is why people often think that NASA came up with Velcro for the space programme. Wrong!
A Swiss engineer, George de Mestral, came up with Velcro in 1948. He was inspired by nature to create the fabric made up of hooks and loose. He examined the burrs that stuck to his clothes after a hike and thought that this concept could probably be put to commercial use. And 8 years later, it was!
5. MRI
MRI stands for magnetic-resonance imaging and is the process in which doctors take pictures of your insides, thus making it one of the most significant medical tools ever invented. The technology used in this process is based on physics principles discovered by Felix Bloch and Edward Purcell in the 1930s. MRI was first patented in 1970, when Raymond Damadian, medical doctor and research scientist, realised its capabilities in medicine.
MRI machines were first available for use in the 80s. NASA did not invent them but has contributed to the science behind the machinery over the years. For example, NASA developed digital image processing techniques in the 60s to enhance pictures of the moon taken as part of NASA's Apollo Lunar Landing Program.
As you can see NASA didn’t invent every cool thing we use today, contrary to popular belief!
This post was brought to you by MPD Hook and Loop. Image: Paul Hudson
1. The Fisher Space Pen
In 1966, a man named Paul C Fisher patented his space pen. Fisher was already an established figure in the world of pens (how exciting?) when he came up with the AG7 or the very first ‘Anti-Gravity’ pen. According to myth NASA approached the pen-innovator to create this ‘out of this world’ pen, investing millions of dollars in the process.
However, Fisher had been developing this project for years and invested $1 Million of his own money into its development. Although this pen has famously been used by astronauts in outer space, it wasn’t Fisher’s intended purpose. All he wanted to do was make a good, sturdy pen that wouldn’t leak all over the place.
2. Teflon
Once given the title of ‘The Slipperiest Substance in Existence’ by the Guiness Book of World Records, we mostly use the substance for just that reason nowadays i.e. in non-stick pans. It was originally invented by accident however by a scientist called Dr Roy Plunkett in 1938. Plunkett would’ve been a much more fun name for the stuff don’t you think?
Anyway, this scientist was trying to find a new refrigerant and came up with Teflon. He found that the substance was slippery, chemically stable and had a high melting point. For this reason it was used by the military and in industrial applications, before becoming a popular non-stick coating in the 60s.
NASA use Teflon for a variety of applications, such as in space suits or heat shields. But as you can see they did not invent it like many people believe; Dr Plunkett did.
3. The Bar Code
Today we have lots of variations on that thing that goes bleep at the supermarket, such as QR Codes example. But believe it or not there was a time that bar codes didn’t exist! An engineer by the name of Joseph Woodland came up with the idea behind the modern bar code. He was pondering the idea of a symbol that would translate to a series of numbers when scanned and thus would identify a product.
The very first bar code wasn’t called a bar code and took the form of a bull’s eye, which is pretty random. This wasn’t widely used until George Laurer of IBM came up with the rectangular design in the early 70’s. Nevertheless, many believe that NASA invented the bar code and even they will tell you themselves that they didn’t! They did however invent a type of bar code that would withstand a harsh environment.
4. Velcro
As you can see from our latest infographic, NASA uses Velcro a lot! It comes in handy so that things don’t just up and float away. Houston, I’ve lost the loo roll... This is why people often think that NASA came up with Velcro for the space programme. Wrong!
A Swiss engineer, George de Mestral, came up with Velcro in 1948. He was inspired by nature to create the fabric made up of hooks and loose. He examined the burrs that stuck to his clothes after a hike and thought that this concept could probably be put to commercial use. And 8 years later, it was!
5. MRI
MRI stands for magnetic-resonance imaging and is the process in which doctors take pictures of your insides, thus making it one of the most significant medical tools ever invented. The technology used in this process is based on physics principles discovered by Felix Bloch and Edward Purcell in the 1930s. MRI was first patented in 1970, when Raymond Damadian, medical doctor and research scientist, realised its capabilities in medicine.
MRI machines were first available for use in the 80s. NASA did not invent them but has contributed to the science behind the machinery over the years. For example, NASA developed digital image processing techniques in the 60s to enhance pictures of the moon taken as part of NASA's Apollo Lunar Landing Program.
As you can see NASA didn’t invent every cool thing we use today, contrary to popular belief!
This post was brought to you by MPD Hook and Loop. Image: Paul Hudson