NASA's new website shows how space technologies have an impact on everyday life

WASHINGTON – NASA has launched an interactive website that allows users to browse buildings to discover common elements that the space agency has helped to improve, such as water purifiers and selfie cameras.

The spin-offs presented are commercial products that use NASA's technology originally developed to study and explore space.

NASA Home & City offers about 130 technologies derived in a virtual space, allowing users to browse buildings and rooms to discover common elements inspired or helped by NASA. These

"Our space technology continues to improve life on Earth," said Jim Reuter, Acting Associate Administrator of NASA's Space Mission Directorate.

"NASA Home & City is a place of discovery for people, and especially for students, who have already wondered why space exploration should matter to them," said Reuter.

The website presents only a small sample of NASA's dual-use and derived technologies, NASA said in a statement.

The spinoffs include water filtration systems originally designed to purify water from Apollo astronauts.

The silver ion technology purifies and softens the water while inhibiting the growth of bacteria in the filter units.

Today, manufacturers are using this combined technology to create water filtration systems for domestic use that not only purify and soften, but also eliminate unwanted tastes and odors.

Wind turbines designed for Mars and tested in Antarctica – where access to solar power is scarce – can generate energy around the world.

NASA's space suits and fire engines use a similar fabric.

NASA's images of newly discovered galaxies or stars have changed a lot over the years.

In the 1990s, a NASA engineer developed a new type of image sensor that requires very low power and is very efficient, making it ideal for digital and cellular cameras on Earth.