, '' he said . More than 1,660 articles on space-related products have been published since the magazine 's first edition . Watch some of the spin-offs developed from space technology '' What you wo n't find on the list is the bright orange powered drink , Tang , or Teflon , or Velcro -- all products that have over time been erroneously linked to NASA 's space mission . `` Tang was developed by General Foods before NASA was even made a federal agency , but it was popularized during astronaut tasting experiments , '' Lockney said . `` Velcro was invented by a Swiss engineer in the 1940s , '' he said , adding `` Teflon was created by Dupont . It has many applications within NASA but is not a NASA technology . '' Infant formula makes the grade due to an ingredient discovered during NASA research into algae as a source of food supplements . `` Different experiments led to the discovery of a nutrient substance that has previously only been found in breast milk . -LSB- This is -RSB- believed to be important in the development in the eyes and the brain . '' It
LONDON , England -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- When man first walked on the moon 40 years ago , it was not only a `` giant leap for mankind '' but also a boon for everyday items . A NASA-inspired tracking system is helping monitor endangered whale sharks . Sports shoes , for example , took a huge leap forward in the late 1980s when AVIA Group International , then a subsidiary of Reebok , turned to space technology to make them more flexible and durable . Freeze-dried food , artificial limbs , cordless vacuum cleaners and edible toothpaste were also developed using research that can be linked to NASA 's forays into space . They are listed in detail in `` Spinoff , '' a NASA magazine first compiled in 1976 as a definitive guide to the commercialized products whose development can be tied to space technology . `` We are fairly liberal with our application of the term spinoff , '' said editor Daniel Lockney . `` The product has to contain a component that was developed for NASA , some aspect of it or it could just be NASA 's know-how that helped the commercialization of the product