Even with the disadvantages to space travel, research conducted by NASA to develop the American space program has benefited society in a number of ways. Discoveries related to space have helped advance medicine, transportation, public safety, consumer goods production, environmental and agricultural resource management, computer technology, and industrial productivity.
A few specific innovations developed as a result of space program research:
• GPS technology
• breast cancer test imaging
• an artificial heart pump based on the design of NASA’s space shuttle main engine fuel pumps that supplements the heart’s pumping capacity in the left ventricle
• a mechanical arm that allows surgeons to operate three instruments, while simultaneously performing laparoscopic surgery
• a lightweight breathing system for firefighters, credited with significant reductions in inhalation injuries
• Teflon-coated fiberglass developed in the 1970s as a new fabric for astronaut spacesuits has been used as a permanent roofing material for buildings and stadiums