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A Waukesha manufacturer is featured in a new NASA publication that highlights technologies developed for the space program that went on to enjoy commercial success.

The company is Waukesha-based ASA Analytics, which developed “automated spectrometry technology” for the space program in the 1990s using a federal Small Business Innovation Research grant. The technology allows NASA to monitor “nutrients and contaminants in the water sustaining growing plants,” according to the company.

Plants in outer space, that is. “Vegetation grown hydroponically would serve as an important food source for astronauts during multi-year space missions,” notes ASA Analytics.

The company has found a hungry market for the technology (now marketed under the name “ChemScan”) in water treatment plants. The devices are used in more than 500 wastewater treatment facilities around the world, according to NASA’s yearly “Spinoff” publication.

At wastewater plants, the devices created by ASA Analytics measure chemical levels in wastewater as it’s treated. This means staff at the facilities doesn’t have to take samples by hand and test them in labs.

“At a time when budget deficits and high unemployment are fueling debates about the economics of space exploration and the need to create jobs,” says ASA Analytics President Bernie Beemster in a statement, “our company is living proof of the real-world benefits of commercializing scientific research.”

Congress and the Obama Administration are considering major budget cuts for NASA in the federal government’s 2012 budget.

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