Computer Support Blog

When it comes to cool products, it is hard not to think of outer space.  After all, what is cooler than space exploration?  Unfortunately for space-loving consumers everywhere nothing, yet, has come from space.  In fact, the cool items most associated with the space program have merely been popularized by their use in the space program, not developed for it or by humanity’s exploration of space.

But wait!  What about Velcro?  Velcro is cool.  NASA, however, did not develop Velcro for the space program.  Invented in 1941, Georges de Mestral patented Velcro in 1955.  After fourteen years of developing the technology, de Mestral had a commercial failure on his hands.  Marketing Velcro turned out to be a bust until NASA inadvertently did it for him.  Some of the earliest images of NASA astronauts showed astronauts using Velcro on their space suits and that captured the imagination of American consumers.  After more than twenty years, Velcro became commercially viable as part of the fad of space exploration, not because it was developed for NASA or as the result of space travel.

One of the common examples of government waste is the Zero Gravity Pen.  Whenever a politician wants to complain about government waste, they fall back on the old standby of the Zero Gravity Pen.  The rumor is that NASA spent millions of dollars to develop the Space Pen because regular ballpoint pens will not work in a zero gravity environment.  This, however, is an urban legend.  Paul C. Fischer invented and patented the AG7 pen in 1965, touting it as the anti-gravity pen.  After the mechanical pencils astronauts were using in 1965 posed risks to equipment and people in the weightless environment, Fischer approached NASA about using his pen.  NASA discovered his Zero Gravity Pen did work in space and ordered some, but Fischer did not change the original model.

Like the others, the fruit drink Tang was only popularized by its involvement in the space program.

So what has our billions of dollars of space exploration gotten us, outside a vastly better understanding of the nature of our universe?  So far, no product has been manufactured as a direct result of space exploration.  While astronauts aboard the International Space Station have conducted many experiments with welding, growing and product synthesis, thus far, those experiments have not yielded any consumable products for Earth.  While NASA has synthesized insulin crystals in space that are much larger than their terrestrial counterparts, those suffering diabetes ought not to look to space for a treatment to their ailment.

With the space program as expensive as it is, there is nothing that is more cost-effective to produce in outer space at this time.  While some might see space exploration as a needless expense, those who see commercialism as a curse look to space travel as the last, best chance for humanity to escape a merchandising-driven culture.

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