Bike helmets protect our skulls — but they only work if the rider is wearing one. Earlier designs of bike helmets were heavy and hot, so in the 1980s one manufacturer teamed up with a NASA aerodynamicist. He reached back to pre-NASA research on air foils to design a venting system that not only improves air flow around the head, but uses that flow of air to reduce drag, giving a racer a one second per kilometer advantage, according to wind tunnel testing.
Although NASA dates back to 1958, the United States had an aeronautics agency even before that: NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. This organization did research and testing on airplanes, helping create longer-range, faster vehicles. NACA was folded into NASA, and the research advances made in the early days continue to evolve and find new uses.
Learn more about how NASA helped develop technology that impacts helmets within your city's sports environment!