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Spinoff story
Buildings for Manipulating Magnetism Revolutionize Magnetometers
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
A pair of buildings where magnetism can be manipulated at Ames Research Center fell into disuse by the 1990s, but they piqued the interest of San Jose, California-based Geometrics Inc., which needed a test facility for its magnetometers, used to find magnetic anomalies in soil and water. The company leased the buildings through a Space Act Agreement, and its devices are now used to find buried objects and calibrate underground drill rigs