"Giant Leap Day"

Happy "Man On The Moon Day" to everyone on the planet Earth!!

Did you know that:

1) The percentage of NASA's federal spending for space exploration is usually less than 1% of the total federal budget funding.

2) America's early space program returned $7.00 for every $1.00 spent in technological advancements for use on earth.

3) Technology "spinoffs" from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo projects include;

a) Heat-retaining insulation for premature baby incubators from helmet applications
b) Hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells that are now being integrated into transportation vehicles
c) Advanced fire retardants and fire resistant materials used by fire fighters
d) Electronic tracking devices to monitor migrating birds, mammals, and fish
e) Specialized shock absorbing materials used in modern athletic shoes
f) Creation of the first global telecommunications system
g) Miniature batteries that made use of artificial pacemakers possible
h) Scratch resistant lenses
i) Solar energy cell technology
j) Smoke detectors
k) Water purification and treatment applications
l) Satellite systems used for weather prediction, and cell phone and GPS transmissions

These are just a handful of the uncountable ways that everyone on the earth has benefited from mankind's communal advancements in space exploration technology. To learn more, visit the NASA spinoffs page at http://www.nasa.gov/ and search "spinoffs".