Mar.

12, 2007

Dryden Flight Research Center

P.O. Box 273
Edwards, California 93523
Phone 661/276-3449

Gray Creech
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
Phone: 661/276-2662
gray.creech@dfrc.nasa.gov

RELEASE: 07-10

NASA TECH TRANSFER PRESENTATION SCHEDULED AT NASA'S PALMDALE GALLERY

Ever used a cordless drill?

During the Apollo program, NASA astronauts needed a cordless tool to

extract lunar core samples as much as 10-feet deep. Black & Decker
provided the fledgling technology, and further refinement of the
technology led to today's cordless power tools.

The cordless drill is just one of thousands of technologies developed

by or for NASA programs that have been adapted for consumer products
or for the benefit of society at large. The transfer of those
technologies into the commercial marketplace will be the focus of a
public presentation on Saturday, March 17 at the NASA Aerospace
Exploration Gallery in the Palmdale Civic Center.

Greg Poteat, technology transfer officer at NASA's Dryden Flight

Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, will begin the first
presentation at 9 a.m. and will repeat every two hours until 3 p.m.
Each presentation will last approximately 45 minutes.

As part of the government's responsibility to taxpayers, NASA has

established technology transfer offices at each of its field centers
to capture intellectual property as it's invented for research
projects. Often, return on the taxpayer investment is licensing fees
paid back to the government for use of those inventions in commercial
products.

Winglets on the tips of airplane wings that improve aerodynamic

efficiency are another example of NASA technology transfer with an
Antelope Valley connection. Developed at NASA's Langley Research
Center in Virginia and flight tested locally at NASA Dryden, winglets
reduce wingtip vortex turbulence, which results in better fuel
economy. They are now in widespread use across the airline industry
and on many newer general aviation aircraft.

NASA Dryden operates the Aerospace Exploration Gallery in cooperation

with the AERO Institute and the City of Palmdale. The gallery is
located at the Palmdale Institute of Technology, 38256 Sierra
Highway, near city hall in the Palmdale Civic Center. It is open free
to the public Tuesdays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more on NASA technology transfer, visit

www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/technologies/spinoffs_index.html
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