A MESSAGE FROM NASA
UPFRONT WITH . . .
Carl G. Ray
Program Executive for Small Business Innovation Research
and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs
Innovative Partnerships Program
Office of Associate Administrator
NASA Headquarters
Nurturing Inspired Innovation
We are continually reminded of our vulnerabilities. For example, devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina presented the nation with a reality yet to be conquered. However, Katrina also served as a catalyst to fire our thirst for innovative contributions and to intensify the search for better solutions.There will always be new challenges that feed the need for innovation and an ever-present human spark to explore and satisfy our own innate curiosity of the unknown unbounded by age or any other social or economic factor. Often, all that’s needed is the excitement generated by an opportunity to contribute or by coming face to face with a challenge that needs to be met.
In 2004 President George W. Bush declared a new vision for space exploration. The announcement committed our nation to the exploration of the solar system, set forth a clear mission for NASA, and renewed the sense of excitement in the continuation of a journey this country started 45 years ago and the innovation demonstrated by the human spirit.
The Vision for Space Exploration, because of its goals of sustaining human presence and meeting far-off challenges, provides a prime opportunity for the now-emerging space industry. Undoubtedly, the vision’s impact is widespread. One significant effect, on a scale as vast as space itself, will be in the form of innovations resulting from technological accomplishments and sought as solutions for long-term needs.
One challenge is to create environments and pathways in which these innovations can flourish into contributing technologies, feeding further development into applications and value-added products.
Take for instance the reaction by the very young to President Bush’s announcement. A small group of these future engineers, scientists and astronauts gather in the backyard of a home located in a small Midwestern town. They’ve heard the news about going to the moon and are experimenting with a shoe box lined with aluminum. “We need to put the shiny side up, so that the light will continue to reflect around the box,” one child says. With their box now fully lined, the children put it into the sunlight, quickly closing the lid to capture the light inside. They rush inside the house and down to the dark basement. There, with hearts pounding in anticipation, they slowly open the box.
Even armed with the foundational knowledge of the only possible result in my example, were you still curious? Two, a small business recently presented to me an innovation it thought NASA might be interested in. It is a light-storage device housed inside a high-tech box, with minimum energy convergence loss. Instead of foil though, the device uses fiber-optic cables and prisms.
The Vision for Space Exploration will continue to inspire new generations of explorers and contribute to the already increasing acceleration of innovation and new technologies for use in space and on Earth.
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