The comment here a while ago about the us no longer going into space,
and being happy about it, because we need to focus on things here on
earth before going into space got me all riled up. I honestly can't
believe how many people don't realize the massive benefits derived
from space based initiatives. It's actually taken me this long to
settle down enough to compose a response that wasn't laced with
explitives and remarks that really aren't condusive to ongoing
discussions.
However, now that I have reached that point, I went hunting for some
space based technology that has paid off for the general public, and
I'm not just talking about us citizens, or those countries that do
maintain space programs.
I first thought that I'd just make a blog post, and make a huge list
of all the things we use daily that grew out of space related
diciplines. Then I discovered Nasa already has such a publication.
They're called spinoffs, and Nasa has a whole publication dedicated
just to such technologies.
The page for the publication is located at:
http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/
Anyone who spends just half an hour or so browsing the publications
here will find an amazing array of technologies, that get used
everyday, and some of which you might not at first believe came out
of space related work, but it's all true, and there's plenty of
examples there, just on the front page of the publications, not even
talking about what's actually mentioned inside the publications
themselves. Anyone who believes even slightly that space is not a
good use of funding seriously needs to peruse just a few of these
documents, and you'll see that space technology has led to many many
more research breakthroughs than anything else in modern history. I
don't think that anyone with a highschool education could possibly
make the claim that space is bad after examining just a few of these
publications, not to mention the main page itself.
Things like 100 percent stronger hip replacements, better parachutes
that have (to date) saved 261 lives, And, this isn't even mentioning
benefits like satellites which handle everything from phone calls to
tv and internet access all over the world, weather prediction, and
more. I don't know how many lives have been saved by weather
satellites, but I'm sure it's in the thousands if not millions.
Should we mention the computer technologies that have been assisted
by space tech? Or what about the lighter and stronger materials used
to build both aircraft and automobiles, saving both money and lives
with their integration into current designs.
I can't even begin to guess how many technologies have benefited
indirectly from space tech, that most folks don't know came via that
route. I can't believe that anyone would even think such things in
today's day and age, but if you have any doubts, spend some time with
the spinoffs site, and see for yourself just how much space tech has
benefited you and those around you, then if you can still say
honestly that you still think there should be no space program,
because it's a waste of resources, then at that point, I'd have to
accept your belief as your own, but at least it'd be an informed belief.
Check out the site, and let's see what discussions we can take from it.
the url again is:
http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/
Enjoy.
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