Space exploration has no doubt had a huge impact on our everyday lives. For example the development of substances like teflon originated in the space program.

In what other ways has space exploration changed the way we live here on Earth?

Let's hear your thoughts :P

Kashi

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Climate Change Australia

Oh where to start!?!?!?! This is the thing we (those of us who agree with manned space exploration) should be answering to those fools who say we should be looking to stay at earth and fix the problems here or that space exploration does diddly for humanity ... Now .. let me begin my ranting list!

- A device for measuring blood pressure (that i'm pretty sure most of us have had used on us) was invented for the first US space mission when they wanted to see what effect lift off had on a human's blood pressure.
- Pace makers can only work because of electronic monitoring systems which were made to operate satellites from earth.
- a minor one, but an effect nonetheless, is scratch resistant lenses on glasses. The coating that makes them scratch proof was developed for satellites so that they wouldn't be damaged by space debris.
- Smoke detectors were developed for manned missions as well as cordless tools.
- that insulation material that people are wrapped in after found freezing in the snow was developed for insulation in space.
- water purification systems that sustain millions of people in third world countries (for eg) are only in existence today because a similar system was needed for space missions.
- heart monitors that are used in hospitals all over the world were first made to track the conditions of astronauts.
- the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission set out to generate the most accurate topographical map of the Earth. The data recorded will enable engineers and scientists to develop safer navigation techniques and better communication systems.
- building the Boeing 777 brought about the use of NASA innovations, from lightweight composite materials to the modern glass cockpit and aircraft control systems.
- let's not forget that without satellites and space missions we wouldn't even know about the hole in the ozone layer! Something that affects the whole of humanity can't be fixed if would have never found out about it.
- using a NASA-developed, advanced analytical technique software package, an air quality monitor system was created, capable of separating the various gases in bulk smokestack exhaust streams and determining the amount of individual gases present within the stream for compliance with smokestack emission standards.
- virtual reality (so i heard but don't know for certain) was developed for astronauts to train for missions especially EVAs.
- flat screen televisions
- sports bras were developed by nasa!!
- fogless ski goggles came from a need to keep visors on EVAs free of fogging.
- A NASA-initiated satellite scanning system monitors and maps forestation by detecting radiation reflected and emitted from trees. I hear we need trees to survive.
- Lighter-weight firefighter's air tanks were developed by NASA.

... okay ... it's getting late i need to get to sleep. That'll do for now. Don;t forget to tell your friends.

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Awesome list! I'll have to remember all that when confronted by people who can't understand why we spend so much on the space program rather than giving it to government programs that rarely if ever work.

Here's one that I heard about long ago but can't verify it's validity: Washing machines, as we know them, were supposedly developed by NASA.

I'd appreciate feedback on that so I don't keep subscribing to a falsehood if it is one.

The idea that we are a small planet (the Whole Earth Idea) inspired the environmental movement (which has thoughtful good environmentalists and environmental nazis pushing their own agendas, unfortunately) which certainly has succeeded largely in stopping the proliferation of pollution at least in the USA.

And there are cultural changes which are not so obvious beside the technical innovations.

One major change is the shift from space travel as a sci-fi preposterous concept to a reality accepted by all.

I was at a dance party in Washington DC the night of the launch of Sputnik I. I asked others at the party what it might portend and how important it was. None really got the future impact at all. From that day to now there has been an enormous shift in consciousness perhaps also reflected in the willingness of so many to believe in UFO's with little or no evidence before them.

Rocketa

You raise a very interesting point... how some people are totally unable to comprehend that some UFO stories simply aren't true because they break some quite simple laws of physics... they assume that because they're aliens, they're therefore hundreds or thousands of years more advanced than us and therefore able to do anything!

At the end of the day, I think it's sad but probably true to say that the general level of ignorance with regards to science and space is just as great now as it's ever been.

Dips

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"The stars are my home"
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion... I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark, near the Tanhauser Gate... all those moments will be lost, in time... like tears in the rain..."

Very good points Josh, and Dippy Hippy.

I can think of two more.
Sideband radio was developed by radio entrapauner Arther Collins for the space program because it uses a fraction of the power of conventional radio, but has about three times the range.
Now a days nearly every citizens band radio has sideband.

Polycarbanite, I believe was also developed for space ship windows origionally.
It is 20 times stronger then glass, 10 times more flexable, and about a third of the weight.

Josh that is an amazing list! I'm going to have to refer to it whenever I get in another argument about space exploration's importance. :P

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Climate Change Australia