Space Provides Dividends to Earth

Fifty-five years ago, humanity began its journey into the cosmos. The technological advances that were required to take our first steps came from a huge variety of fields, and many of these advances were subsequently co-opted for needs back on earth. While GPS technology, Tang, and astronaut ice cream may be the most commonly known, fields from materials science to data-analytics have seen countless of advances created by the space program--advances that continue to have a profound impact from here in the United States to the Sinjar Mountains. Recently, I served as a judge for the Space Technology Hall of Fame, alongside fellow space colleagues that included JAXA Deputy Director Nobuto Yoshioka and private astronaut Anousheh Ansari. We reviewed eight finalists for this year's awards--all of whom were very worthy and illustrative of the ongoing value and importance of technology derived from conquering the extremes of space. Identifying and celebrating technologies initially developed for space exploration that have since been successfully repurposed to improve life here on Earth took us on unexpected journeys, to say the least. What do lightweight rocket bodies and pacemakers have in common? In a word, LaRC-SI (Langley Research Center Soluble Imide). This material, developed by Rob Bryant at NASA Langley in the 1990s for use in rockets, also happens to be biologically inert--meaning that it can be used in medical devices without risk of the body rejecting it. Thanks to a pa...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news