NASA Squandering Technology Commercialization Opportunities

coondoggie writes "The commercialization of all manner of space technologies has always been a forte of NASA, but the space agency faces a number of economic and internal challenges if that success is to continue. A report by released this week (PDF) by NASA Inspector General Paul Martin that assesses NASA's technology commercialization efforts is highly critical of the space agency's ability to identify and get important technologies out of the lab and out the door to commercial applications."

Because...

[busyqth]

Because that's why NASA exists after all: to help private investors monetize the products of publicly funded research.

Just patent the hell out of everything.

[Anonymous Coward]

Then, sell the patents. Hey, it's a proven successful strategy.

Re:Just patent the hell out of everything.

[Githaron]

If research is publicly funded, the research should be publicly owned.

Re:Because...

[ShanghaiBill]

I don't know...maybe make them PUBLIC!

They do. There is a publication called "NASA Tech Briefs" that is available in print or on-line. It has lots of information about technologies developed by NASA.

If the private sector isn't exploiting the technologies, I don't see why that is NASA's fault.