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Spinoff story
Smaller, Cheaper Lasers Can Detect Gas, Monitor Structures, Take Tissue Images
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
SBIR and Tipping Point contracts from Goddard Space Flight Center helped Freedom Photonics of Santa Barbara, California, develop tunable lasers for sensing methane and other gases. The lasers are much smaller, cheaper, and more efficient than alternatives and have possible applications in environmental monitoring, the oil and gas industry, and other fields. Advances made under Armstrong Flight Research Center SBIR funding have helped the company develop capabilities that could be used for structural monitoring and medical imaging.