Innovation is Alive at NASA!

Booth featuring technologies from the Constellation Program

Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending “Innovation 2010” at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, as a member of the Advanced Planning Office team, which handles commercialization of JSC technologies. The purpose of the event was to encourage innovation in all aspects of NASA, bringing together different ideas and perspective to generate more creative solutions.

Net with JSC’s Grant Bue, innovator of HAHS technology that Fuentek is marketing.

Spread across JSC’s campus were booths and exhibits featured a wide variety of programs, innovators, organizations, and equipment. At the Crew & Thermal Systems Division booth, I had the opportunity to finally meet face to face two innovators whom Fuentek has been working with for some time: Grant Bue and Evelyne Orndoff. They are part of the team that developed JSC’s High-Altitude Hydration System (HAHS), a technology that JSC has made available for licensing.

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden addressed the JSC workforce at the event. I continue to be inspired by his passion for NASA and for aligning our visions—civil servants’, contractors’, and the public’s—so that NASA is poised to take the next leaps in technology and development that will further our exploration and science goals.

This renewed focus on innovation and technology research and development (R&D) was echoed by Bobby Braun, NASA’s Chief Technologist. As he put it, “Don’t we want NASA to be cutting edge?” This kind of innovation focus is needed for NASA to successfully explore our universe—through both manned exploration and science missions. At the same time, such a focus will be inspiring for the next generation of scientists and engineers who are fundamental to the future of the United States as a leader in technology. (To learn more about NASA’s new Space Technology Program, read Dr. Braun’s March 2010 testimony to the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.)

Net in front of NASA’s Lunar Electric Rover

Today is a great time to be involved at NASA and all the promise it holds. I personally feel very fortunate to be able to play a part in helping move NASA into the next generation, while at the same time inspiring our children to become the innovators of the future.

–By Nannette Stangle-Castor, Ph.D.