Space Technology Hall of Fame

Induction Year 1989

Scratch Resistant Lenses

NASA Image of MS3 Grunsfeld ruing EVA1
Inducted In: 1989, Consumer, Home, Recreation

For decades, ground and polished glass had been the preferred lens in the eyeglass industry. That changed in 1972 when the Food and Drug Administration issued a regulation that all sunglasses and prescription lenses must be shatter-resistant. The main disadvantage to glass is its brittleness, so eyeglass manufacturers turned to plastics. Plastic lenses had many…

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Fabric Roof Structures

In the late 1960s, NASA’s Johnson Space Center went searching for a lightweight, non-combustible fabric durable and strong enough to protect the astronauts in an alien, zero-gravity environment. One American company, Chemical Fabrics, a specialty weaver and coater, was already experimenting with advanced composites. ChemFab wove the specially designed Owens Corning Fiberglass yarn into a…

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Cordless Tools

NASA Image of cordless products
Inducted In: 1989, Consumer, Home

NASA scientists, in order to conduct a thorough study of the Moon’s soil, needed samples from both the lunar surface and subsurface. Digging into the hard lunar surface layer demanded a lightweight, compact power drill capable of drilling 10 feet below the surface. To top those requirements, the drill also needed its own independent power…

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