To analyze what could be the first confirmed samples of interstellar space particles, a team of scientists led by the University of California, Berkeley used cutting edge instruments developed by NASA. Andrew Westphal, who leads the analysis at the Space Sciences Laboratory, credits these advancements to NASA’s commitment to research and development.

"When the Apollo moon rocks were coming back, the analytical community recognized that there was a lot of room for improvement and a need to develop techniques that were really sensitive and precise. The result of that development over the decades has been the development of these amazing machines that now can do what the analysis what used to take 1 gram of material, lets say, now can be done with one millionth of a gram."

Westphal says that NASA’s technologies have also benefitted society as a whole.

"There are a lot of spinoffs in general for these kinds of instruments, for example, semiconductor manufacturing and all kinds of things. This has been a tremendously successful investment on the part of NASA."