In the 54 years since it was created, NASA has invented a huge number of technologies that allow spacecraft to travel to the reaches of the solar system, and astronauts to walk on the Moon and return home safely.
Unsurprisingly, many of those developments have applications on Earth as well, and NASA works hard to get its technology into the hands of those who can use it to save lives, money, and time.
These "spinoffs" have advanced computer science, human health, and manufacturing, but have had an outsize influence on transportation.
These 17 examples of NASA innovations that have made driving and flying safer, faster, and cheaper include everything from a rocket-powered parachute that stops airplanes from crashing to biodegradable lubricants that keep spaceships moving and cars on the road.
Used tires are turned into asphalt.
NASA's Stennis Space Center developed a process to work with launch vehicle fuels that made recycling used tires easier.
As a result, 5,000 tires per day can be reused to make new tires, hoses, and even asphalt roadbeds.
NASCAR drivers are fire-proof.
To protect its astronauts in the event of a fire, NASA created a chemically treated fabric that neither burns nor gives off fumes in contact with flames.
Now, it is used to make suits for race car drivers to keep them safe during explosive car crashes.
Brakes stand up to higher temperatures.
NASA developed materials to deal with the extremely high temperatures spacecraft face while entering and leaving the atmosphere.
Used in brakes, the materials can withstand temperatures as high as 650 degrees Fahrenheit, so they last longer, and cost less as well.
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