20 Inventions We Wouldn't Have Without Space Travel

Space travel has given us far more than moonshots and satellites; it directly produced dozens of everyday technologies we now take for granted. Innovations born from space exploration include memory foam, scratch-resistant lenses, CAT scanners, LEDs, ear thermometers, and the portable computer, among others.

NASA and affiliated aerospace programs required solutions to extreme engineering challenges. Those solutions filtered into consumer markets over decades, becoming household staples. Water filtration systems, adjustable smoke detectors, and anti-icing technology all trace their lineage to space research.

The scope of space-derived technology is broader than most people realize. Fields ranging from sports footwear to home insulation to medical imaging benefited from the unique demands of getting humans safely beyond Earth's atmosphere — and back again.