15 Amazing Gifts to Every Day Life from our Beloved Astronauts and Scientists | National Astronaut Day

If you’re old enough like I am (*coughs*) to remember our very first flight to the moon and the incredible achievements in space sense, you may be as excited as I am to think about us landing a human on Mars.

M. G. Lorraine Salutes National Astronaut Day

The men and women who choose to break the boundaries of gravity and go beyond are made of truly extra extraordinary fortitude and courage. Only 12 men have walked on Earth's moon; four of these twelve are still living. No one has been back since December 1972, but the achievements of these first flights were mostly built with math that had yet to be invented in the complexity we needed it; equations that had yet to be developed. Today a plane flight arrives on time due to the same math that was developed to take us to the moon.

Think about how far we have come since then! We now have satellites everywhere, voyager probes in interstellar space and incredible data and images sent from James Webb telescope. We spent 30 years from 1981 to 2011 in the exploration of space with shuttles. The five shuttles built flew a total of 135 missions out of the Kennedy space center. Tragically we saw two shuttles fail. Challenger had a launch failure with seven lives lost and Columbia with a reentry failure and seven fatalities. What we learned from each of these successful missions, and even more from these losses, aids in our future preparation for a return to moon and even our mission to Mars safer and better.

The international space station has been in space 25 years and according to nasa.gov 270 astronauts have visited the research center in space that has enriched our lives in interesting ways. According to interestingengineering.com, which makes note of several technologies developed for space that we use every day.

House & Home from Space Engineers

1. Memory foam was originally developed by NASA in 1966 for the shuttle seats to protect the astronauts for from G forces.

2. The Dustbuster started out as a lunar rock drill. LOL

3. Space blankets have made it so they’re nearly every emergency kit.

4. Super-soaker water guns came out of the development of refrigeration systems.
   

Health & Body Aids from NASA Scientests

5. Many formulas contain in enrichments developed by NASA formulas, but Baby Formula is a major win form our scientists.

6. Preserving nutrients with freeze drying is a win for nutrition! While freeze-drying had been invented in 1906 and Nestlé developed it in 1938, it wasn’t until they needed it for astronaut nutrition that the process fully developed to what it is today.

7. The Cochlear Implants developed for space, but have now improved hearing and the quality of life for many.

8. The Infrared thermometers that take temperature - off of your forehead or your inner ear - are now prevalent in nearly every home.

9. Insulin pumps have saved countless lives and helps so many people.

10. Speedo racing swimsuits are ultra streamlined to prevent friction in space suits.

11. Artificial limbs

"As a writer - even though I write fiction - I find it important to track the progress of technology, which is ever-changing." says M. G. Lorraine, Author | National Astronauts Day 2025

Technology Finds from Astronauts

12. CMOS-pixel sensors make selfies possible

13. Embedded Web tech

14. The computer mouse

15. Scratch-resistant lenses

As a writer - even though I write fiction - I find it important to track the progress of technology, which is ever-changing. Today let’s celebrate the amazing men and women who take the edge of technology and expand it with their creativity in innovation, courage to dream past the known and with the dedication of their lives and livelihoods to science as they look to expand beyond our own planet... the ever honorable astronaut!

Until next time,

Signed M. G. Lorraine, Author