NASA research

Background

NASA's research includes medical studies in space, such as the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity Study, where astronauts perform ultrasound scans under remote expert guidance to diagnose conditions. This study has been applied to professional and Olympic sports injuries and to non-expert operators in medical and high school settings, with anticipated use in emergency and rural care on Earth. NASA also works on salt evaporation pond reclamation in South San Francisco Bay using satellite sensors, and has an Energy Efficiency and Water Conservation Program to reduce pollution and resource use. In Earth science, NASA studies natural and human-induced environmental changes, including global warming, with over a dozen orbiting spacecraft. It cooperates with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to produce solar resource maps and participated in evaluating technologies for cleaning dense non-aqueous phase liquids.

NASA was recognized as the first federal agency to use landfill gas for energy at its Goddard Space Flight Center. In 1975, NASA was directed to research the upper atmosphere, leading to ozone monitoring via the Nimbus 7 satellite and later the Earth Observing System satellites. NASA also researches and publishes on climate issues, concurring that the global climate is heating.

Did You Know?

• NASA technology helps reclaim 15,100 acres of salt evaporation ponds in South San Francisco Bay using satellite sensors.
• The first comprehensive worldwide measurements of ozone depletion were obtained in 1978 with the Nimbus 7 satellite.