NASA Spinoffs in Your Life, College

#NASADidThat

Dr. Raven raps about everyday things that came out of NASA research, like phone camera chips, memory foam and weather apps. At the end, she speaks out against a plan to cut NASA’s science budget.

The Syncom IV communications satellite in orbit above Earth — English still uses satellite for an attendant or follower of another person, and for a branch office or off-campus facility that depends on a main campus or office.

Your word of the day is

SAT-l-ite

satelliteattendant, bodyguardfrom Latin satelles

A natural body that revolves around a planet, such as a moon, or a device designed to be launched into orbit around Earth, another planet or the Sun.

A hand holding a black wireless computer mouse

In 1965, NASA paid engineers at Stanford Research Institute to test devices for pointing at words on a computer screen. One was a brand-new device they called the mouse. Experienced users had to lift a hand from the keyboard, reach the device and select a target one letter wide.

Make a guess before you read the report. On average, how many seconds did an experienced user need to select a one-letter target with the mouse? Give your reasoning in one sentence.

Hint

Picture lifting your hand from a keyboard, finding the mouse and clicking on a single letter.

A woman uses a light pen to pick items on the screen of an IBM computer terminal

Read the paper

English, Engelbart and Huddart, “Computer-Aided Display Control,” final report to NASA’s Langley Research Center, Stanford Research Institute, 1965. The report is free to read.

Under a NASA contract, Douglas Engelbart’s team at Stanford Research Institute tested five ways to select text on a computer screen, a light pen, a Grafacon, a knee control, a joystick and the mouse. In absolute mode, the cursor’s position followed the joystick’s tilt. In rate mode, the cursor’s speed followed the tilt. When a target appeared, the subject struck the space bar, moved a hand to the device and selected the target, and the computer timed each step and logged each wrong pick. Eight experienced subjects practiced each device for about two minutes before testing. Three inexperienced subjects had never used the system and got no practice period. The table gives the values printed on the bars of Figures 7, 9, 10 and 11 for targets one character wide. The authors also report each device’s time with a 30% penalty for errors. Fixing a wrong pick took about as long as striking the space bar, about 30% of the total time. For each subject, the authors added the subject’s error rate times 30% of the subject’s average time.

Group	Device	Average time (s)	Error rate	Report’s time with 30% penalty (s)
Experienced	Mouse	1.93	0.095	1.99
Experienced	Light pen	2.13	0.209	2.28
Experienced	Grafacon	2.43	0.208	2.57
Experienced	Joystick (absolute)	2.87	0.278	3.14
Inexperienced	Knee control	2.36	0.211	2.52
Inexperienced	Light pen	2.43	0.250	2.64
Inexperienced	Mouse	2.62	0.099	2.71
Inexperienced	Grafacon	3.26	0.234	3.51
Inexperienced	Joystick (absolute)	3.29	0.213	3.54
Inexperienced	Joystick (rate)	5.22	0.297	5.71

Inexperienced users averaged 3.26 seconds with the Grafacon, with an error rate of 0.234.

With average time × (1 + 0.30 × error rate), the inexperienced Grafacon group’s penalty time is about ____.

See the table

Group	Device	Average time (s)	Error rate	Report’s time with 30% penalty (s)
Experienced	Mouse	1.93	0.095	1.99
Experienced	Light pen	2.13	0.209	2.28
Experienced	Grafacon	2.43	0.208	2.57
Experienced	Joystick (absolute)	2.87	0.278	3.14
Inexperienced	Knee control	2.36	0.211	2.52
Inexperienced	Light pen	2.43	0.250	2.64
Inexperienced	Mouse	2.62	0.099	2.71
Inexperienced	Grafacon	3.26	0.234	3.51
Inexperienced	Joystick (absolute)	3.29	0.213	3.54
Inexperienced	Joystick (rate)	5.22	0.297	5.71

Close-up of a silver stopwatch on a black background

Why do penalty times calculated from the 1965 report’s table differ from the report’s own by a few hundredths of a second?

See the table

Group	Device	Average time (s)	Error rate	Report’s time with 30% penalty (s)
Experienced	Mouse	1.93	0.095	1.99
Experienced	Light pen	2.13	0.209	2.28
Experienced	Grafacon	2.43	0.208	2.57
Experienced	Joystick (absolute)	2.87	0.278	3.14
Inexperienced	Knee control	2.36	0.211	2.52
Inexperienced	Light pen	2.43	0.250	2.64
Inexperienced	Mouse	2.62	0.099	2.71
Inexperienced	Grafacon	3.26	0.234	3.51
Inexperienced	Joystick (absolute)	3.29	0.213	3.54
Inexperienced	Joystick (rate)	5.22	0.297	5.71

The mouse ranks first in speed for experienced users and third for inexperienced users.

Which device does the 1965 report’s data best support for people who use NASA’s text system every day?

See the table

Group	Device	Average time (s)	Error rate	Report’s time with 30% penalty (s)
Experienced	Mouse	1.93	0.095	1.99
Experienced	Light pen	2.13	0.209	2.28
Experienced	Grafacon	2.43	0.208	2.57
Experienced	Joystick (absolute)	2.87	0.278	3.14
Inexperienced	Knee control	2.36	0.211	2.52
Inexperienced	Light pen	2.43	0.250	2.64
Inexperienced	Mouse	2.62	0.099	2.71
Inexperienced	Grafacon	3.26	0.234	3.51
Inexperienced	Joystick (absolute)	3.29	0.213	3.54
Inexperienced	Joystick (rate)	5.22	0.297	5.71

An Atari 2600 joystick with a black stick and a red button

The experienced group had 8 subjects with about two minutes of practice on each device. The inexperienced group had 3 subjects and no practice.

How should the 1965 report’s group sizes and practice limit a recommendation?

See the table

Group	Device	Average time (s)	Error rate	Report’s time with 30% penalty (s)
Experienced	Mouse	1.93	0.095	1.99
Experienced	Light pen	2.13	0.209	2.28
Experienced	Grafacon	2.43	0.208	2.57
Experienced	Joystick (absolute)	2.87	0.278	3.14
Inexperienced	Knee control	2.36	0.211	2.52
Inexperienced	Light pen	2.43	0.250	2.64
Inexperienced	Mouse	2.62	0.099	2.71
Inexperienced	Grafacon	3.26	0.234	3.51
Inexperienced	Joystick (absolute)	3.29	0.213	3.54
Inexperienced	Joystick (rate)	5.22	0.297	5.71

An engineer works at a computer design station with a light pen in hand

For inexperienced users, the mouse averaged 2.62 seconds with a 0.099 error rate, and the light pen averaged 2.43 seconds with a 0.250 error rate.

With time = average time × (1 + p × error rate), the mouse beats the light pen for inexperienced users once the penalty p, written as a decimal, passes about ____.

See the table

Group	Device	Average time (s)	Error rate	Report’s time with 30% penalty (s)
Experienced	Mouse	1.93	0.095	1.99
Experienced	Light pen	2.13	0.209	2.28
Experienced	Grafacon	2.43	0.208	2.57
Experienced	Joystick (absolute)	2.87	0.278	3.14
Inexperienced	Knee control	2.36	0.211	2.52
Inexperienced	Light pen	2.43	0.250	2.64
Inexperienced	Mouse	2.62	0.099	2.71
Inexperienced	Grafacon	3.26	0.234	3.51
Inexperienced	Joystick (absolute)	3.29	0.213	3.54
Inexperienced	Joystick (rate)	5.22	0.297	5.71

Two workers run a room-sized IBM 704 computer used for aircraft research at Langley, the lab that became part of NASA

NASA’s contract paid for the display-control work in the 1965 report, and ARPA and the Air Force paid for other parts of the same computer system.

Which sentence fairly describes NASA’s part in the computer mouse?

See the table

Group	Device	Average time (s)	Error rate	Report’s time with 30% penalty (s)
Experienced	Mouse	1.93	0.095	1.99
Experienced	Light pen	2.13	0.209	2.28
Experienced	Grafacon	2.43	0.208	2.57
Experienced	Joystick (absolute)	2.87	0.278	3.14
Inexperienced	Knee control	2.36	0.211	2.52
Inexperienced	Light pen	2.43	0.250	2.64
Inexperienced	Mouse	2.62	0.099	2.71
Inexperienced	Grafacon	3.26	0.234	3.51
Inexperienced	Joystick (absolute)	3.29	0.213	3.54
Inexperienced	Joystick (rate)	5.22	0.297	5.71

The white dome of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC

Why does accurate credit carry so much weight when people argue for science funding?

See the table

Group	Device	Average time (s)	Error rate	Report’s time with 30% penalty (s)
Experienced	Mouse	1.93	0.095	1.99
Experienced	Light pen	2.13	0.209	2.28
Experienced	Grafacon	2.43	0.208	2.57
Experienced	Joystick (absolute)	2.87	0.278	3.14
Inexperienced	Knee control	2.36	0.211	2.52
Inexperienced	Light pen	2.43	0.250	2.64
Inexperienced	Mouse	2.62	0.099	2.71
Inexperienced	Grafacon	3.26	0.234	3.51
Inexperienced	Joystick (absolute)	3.29	0.213	3.54
Inexperienced	Joystick (rate)	5.22	0.297	5.71

The 1965 report compares pointing devices by time and by errors.

Which summary fits the 1965 report’s results for the mouse?

Which question is out of reach for the 1965 report’s results?

The back of a white Google Pixel phone with its camera lenses in a row

Lesson complete

Today’s word

satellite

SAT-l-ite

A small body in orbit around a larger body, whether natural, like the Moon, or artificial, like a device launched to orbit Earth or another planet.

Back to the lesson Start over

Up nextteratomaThe tumor that grows teeth

Sources

Eric Fossum and colleagues at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Spinoff 2017 and a JPL news release, June 20, 1995
Charles Yost, under a NASA contract through Stencel Aero Engineering, with NASA’s Ames Research Center, NASA Spinoff 2005, “Forty-Year-Old Foam Springs Back With New Benefits”
Al Gross for AVIA, and KangaROOS USA, NASA Spinoff 1991 and NASA Spinoff 1986
William English, Douglas Engelbart and Bonnie Huddart, Stanford Research Institute, for NASA’s Langley Research Center, Final report, “Computer-Aided Display Control,” 1965
NASA’s Lewis Research Center, licensed to Air Products and Chemicals, NASA Spinoff 1996
NASA’s Langley Research Center, with Speedo, “Space-Age Swimsuit Reduces Drag, Breaks Records,” NASA
NASA-funded researchers working on life support for Mars missions, “Enriched Baby Formula,” NASA
NASA, which builds and launches the GOES satellites, and NOAA, which runs them, NASA’s GOES mission page
NOAA’s National Hurricane Center (NHC), “Official error trends,” NHC Forecast Verification, updated July 8, 2026, and its table “Average NHC Atlantic Track Forecast Errors (n mi), Tropical Storms and Hurricanes” (verification as of May 12, 2026)
NOAA’s satellite and information service (NESDIS), “Twenty Years After Katrina: NOAA Satellite Advancements for Hurricane Forecasts and Tracking,” August 28, 2025
The Planetary Society, a group that argues for space science funding, Press release, May 30, 2025
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Spinoff 2019
Plantronics, with NASA engineers, NASA Spinoff 2005, “Crystal-Clear Communication a Sweet-Sounding Success”
NASA’s Spinoff office, Spinoff FAQ
NASA Spinoff articles on the video’s other claims: CT scans, eye surgery
NASA pages: memory foam, clear braces, NASA history
Rob Sharp, “50 years, 50 giant leaps: How NASA rocked our world”, The Irish Independent, July 29, 2008, the source of the Nike Air story
NASA budget: SpacePolicyOnline, July 10, 2025, The Planetary Society and its May 30, 2025 press release, and Roohi Dalal, “Congress Passes Fiscal Year 2026 Spending Bills for NSF, NASA, and DOE,” American Astronomical Society, January 15, 2026, for the final 2026 budget (H.R. 6938, signed January 23, 2026)
NGSS pages for the practice and connection elements, linked in the standards table: MS-PS1-3, HS-PS4-4, HS-PS4-5
ABET, Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs, 2026-2027, Criterion 3, Student Outcomes
Word origins from Dictionary.com: satellite, sputnik, aeronautics, aero-, nautical
Transcript from the lyrics on the July 2025 version of Raven’s blog post, and outro quotes from the current post
Instagram original, not linked because Instagram needs a login

NASA Spinoffs in Your Life, College

#NASADidThat

Your word of the day is

Make a guess before you read the report. On average, how many seconds did an experienced user need to select a one-letter target with the mouse? Give your reasoning in one sentence.

Read the paper

With average time × (1 + 0.30 × error rate), the inexperienced Grafacon group’s penalty time is about ____.

Why do penalty times calculated from the 1965 report’s table differ from the report’s own by a few hundredths of a second?

Which device does the 1965 report’s data best support for people who use NASA’s text system every day?

How should the 1965 report’s group sizes and practice limit a recommendation?

With time = average time × (1 + p × error rate), the mouse beats the light pen for inexperienced users once the penalty p, written as a decimal, passes about ____.

Which sentence fairly describes NASA’s part in the computer mouse?

Why does accurate credit carry so much weight when people argue for science funding?

Which summary fits the 1965 report’s results for the mouse?

Which question is out of reach for the 1965 report’s results?

Lesson complete

Today’s word

Look at these again