SkyWatch
By: Dr. Ron Kohl
For Ron's Monthly Guide To The Planets
And Articles On Astronomy
See His Monthly Column In The Jamestown Post Journal
NASA, WORTH THE COST?
Everyone is an explorer. How could you
possibly live your life looking at a door and not go open it?
-Robert D. Ballard, Institute for Exploration, Mystic, CT
It has been a little over forty years since NASA began operation.
During these last four decades, the space agency has been through
some spectacular successes and some dismal failures. Some people
still question whether the money that NASA receives, which is
actually only eight-tenths of one percent of the federal budget,
is worth the cost.
Let's take a look at just some of the benefits resulting from
NASA and the space program. NASA technology has helped to develop:
-tremendous innovations in micro-processors
-MRI for use in medical diagnoses
-improvements in the field of lasers
-better air and water purification systems
-superior lightning protection devices
-innovative fasteners for the construction and automotive industries
-infrared detectors for emission monitoring
-compact flow cytometers, used in cancer detection
-CATScan, used in medical diagnostics and in nondestructive testing
of aerospace structures and components
-a greatly improved ice removal system for aircraft
-new computer scheduling software, currently used in industry
-advances in thin-film coatings to prevent corrosion, now used
on the Statue of Liberty
-a software program presently being used to track vehicles in
large fleet operations, such as taxis, the trucking industry,
public works vehicles, etc.
-superior catalytic converters and combustors
-higher grade ultrasonic equipment
-improved CAD/CAM software, now used in automotive and aviation
design work
-the supercritical airfoil, which enabled Cessna Aircraft Co.
to build the Citation X, the fastest non-military airplane in
the world (except for the Concorde)
-tremendous improvements in weather and communications satellites.
-incredible images of other worlds, relayed back to Earth from
spacecraft that are billions of miles away
-new CCD cameras, now being used for night vision surveillance
-a polyimide foam, used commercially as very lightweight thermal
and acoustic insulating barriers
-advanced relay switches, used in satellites and undersea fiber
optic communications networks
-lightweight plastic insulation for use in rescue blankets, gloves
and clothing
-new growth mediums for plants, enhanced soil conditioners and
improved slow-release fertilizers
-higher grade equipment for food processing plants and restaurants,
vending machines and residential ovens
-hundreds of NASA supported elementary, secondary, and higher
education activities and programs that help the competitiveness
of the U.S. in the global community
-advanced home entertainment equipment, due to NASA research into
high-speed digital audio processing systems, virtual space concepts
and optical technology
-Aerogel, the lightest solid material known, with its incredible
insulating properties
-new software that will permit small planes to carry portable
onboard collision-avoidance systems
-enabled the National Geographic Society to create a digital satellite
image of the entire world
-new programs to diagnose and treat heart disease
-improvements to CCD camera and video systems, now used in the
medical and dental markets
-modified "space suits" that have vastly improved the
lives of people with genetic defects that cause extreme sensitivity
to light or problems in cooling the body
-new methods of muscle stimulation to aid in paralysis therapy
-infrared detectors, used in fire fighting and surgical applications
-shape memory alloys, used in improved golf clubs, orthodontic
wire, etc.
-automated pollution controls, which monitor the Earth's atmosphere
and ecosystems
-high tech radiation detectors
-innovations in aircraft precision landing systems and high-performance
navigation systems. Nearly every aircraft in use today uses technology
pioneered by NASA
-great improvements in biomedical microscopy
These are just a few of the many thousands of improvements to
our daily lives which were made possible through NASA research
and the space program. These spin-off benefits are in addition
to the invaluable feats of placing men on the Moon, launching
hundreds of weather, communications and scientific satellites,
sending probes to other planets and our Sun, etc.
NASA is truly an investment in America's future, helping to keep
the US as the global leader in aeronautics and space exploration
and, through its research and technology, improving life for each
of us. And all of this is costing the taxpayer less than one penny
out of every dollar spent in the federal budget.
Cosmic Images taken by the author, using the
20" computer controlled DFM telescope in Lakewood, N.Y.
as seen on the History Channel's show Megabuck Boy's Toys can
be viewed at:
http://www.alltel.net/~ronccd/