What are some of the inventions from NASA that have made a big impact on our daily lives?

Question

Things that we use almost every day and changed our perceptions or way of life

Answer 1

I can't say that all of these were invented by NASA, but all of these were heavily used by NASA:

Velcro -- that "hook and loop" fastener, was invented as a method to hold things in place in a low-gravity environment

Super Glue -- was invented as a surgical adhesive, to replace stitches in case somebody got hurt.

"Rad-hard" microprocessor chips and memory -- The Apollo spacecrafts used CORE memory (not chips) because core memory is not susceptible to solar radition (beta rays??)  But CORE memory takes a lot of power, and memory CHIPS were needed to reduce power requirements.  So "radition hardened" memory chips were developed.  In the process the whole field of microprocessor and memory chips advanced, setting up up for advancements in Personal Computers.

Remote Bio-Sensing -- Originally developed for NASA, remote bio-sensing is now used in almost every hospital in the United States, and most western countries.

Answer 2

NASA hasn't actually invented a lot of stuff.

The needs of aeronautic development and the space program however, have driven state of the art in a number of important ways.  Microminiature electronics is the easy example.

And a number of science experiments have been conducted using NASA provided facilities, like the US Lab on the Space Station that produce innovations.  One manufacturer of home furnaces made a significant improvement to gas furnace burner technology from the results of a "combustion in microgravity" experiment.

Answer 3

Teflons.