The space program has yielded a baby food that more perfectly imitates mother's milk: In looking for ways to create foods for long space flights, NASA came up with a formula that became a baby food called Formulaid.
Research on space-helmet visors yielded scratch-resistant coatings for earthbound eyeglasses.
Specially designed moonboots put more bounce in running shoes.
Wilson's Ultra golfball flies longer and straighter because of its pattern of dimples -- thanks to aerodynamic engineers at NASA.
The same sensors that told NASA controllers that John Glenn's heartbeat was A-OK during the Mercury launch now are used in intensive-care units around the world.
Space satellites don't just deliver "Andy Griffith" reruns on TV. Weather satellites save crops and even lives. Global positioning satellites have so improved air safety that GPS has been called the biggest aviation advance since the Wright Brothers.
Firefighting gear developed for the launching pad now protects firefighters worldwide.
The air conditioner uses NASA technology to gain efficiencies that prevent your utility bill from soaring into space.
A bit of space-derived technology, the smoke detector, has saved many lives on Earth.
Swimming pools stay clean longer because of NASA research into ways to keep water pure and safe on long flights.
A pump that was developed for the Mars Viking lander evolved to become the programmable, implantable insulin pump used for patients with type 1 diabetes.
Medical advances have been both esoteric -- the use of air-conditioned space suits for children whose bodies have lost the ability to cool themselves -- as well as commonplace -- heart pacemakers perfected using space research.
Many discoveries don't have immediate popular appeal. They come from basic research and are the unintended consequences of experiments that seem to have no immediate practical value.
But whether you see the long-range value of basic research, or whether you want something you can hold in your hand right now, the value is there.
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