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Spinoff story
Tiny Pulsed Lasers Have Medical, Industrial, Military, Environmental Applications
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
To pack more instruments into the Mars 2020 rover than its predecessors, NASA had to shrink components. SBIR contracts overseen by Goddard Space Flight Center paid Q-Peak Inc. of Bedford, Massachusetts, to develop a high-powered, pulsed-energy laser of unprecedented tininess for one of the rover’s spectrometers. Based on that work, the company’s Moonbow lasers pack technology that would normally fill a shoebox into a housing the size of a matchbox. These lasers could be used to treat glaucoma in developing countries, as well as in spectroscopy, lidar, and military applications.