On Mar. 25, 2020, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California announced that after receiving more than 100 applications, eight U.S. manufacturers were selected to make a new ventilator tailored for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients.

The prototype, which was created by JPL engineers in just 37 days, received an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration on April 30. Called VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally), the high-pressure ventilator was designed to use one-seventh the parts of a traditional ventilator, relying on parts already available in supply chains.