Technical Benefits of Human Space Flight
Mandag, 3. aug 2009, kl. 18:00
Foredrag, Aarhus Universitet, Institut for Matematiske Fag (Auditorium F), Ny Munkegade, bygn. 1530, 8000 Århus C
Ved Dr. Ravi Margasahayam, Ingeniør,
Kennedy Space Center, NASA, USA
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"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." In 1969, less than a decade after Yuri Gagarin’s flight in orbit, the importance of human spaceflights was obvious. Although there are manned and unmanned missions being launched every other month or so, the technical benefits of human or manned space flight are many. Despite the costs of manned space flight program, there are many reasons for manned space flight which go beyond technical superiority and economic rationality. Barring the costs of such programs, America and the American Space Program has continued to rely on Saturn V, Space Shuttle, and International Space Station to reap tremendous benefits from manned space flight. The US President made a commitment to return to the Moon and take a shot at even Mars. Space embodies the modern Frontier. But contrary to the pioneers in America, the conquest of space relies on technical capacities. Manned missions are therefore a wonderful way to energize research: it combines the dream of discovering new territories with the necessity to carry out researches to allow these trips in space.
In a world where innovation is the only way to stay at the top, the American success in the economic race is explained basically because of the strength of its research. If competitiveness in the space arena is paramount to a country, then human spaceflight is valuable and must. From this point of view, human missions are much more interesting because they require much more technologies than unmanned missions and consequently have a broader impact. Coupled with this capacity of human spaceflight to create innovation, manned mission is also a great way to conduct research: that is the very purpose of the ISS. The attachment of various laboratories to the ISS since its inception has enhanced the capacity to explore new fields of science thanks to the unique experimental conditions in orbit. Having a strong human spaceflight capacity is consequently the assurance that one can conduct independently the experiments it wishes to perform in space.
Human spaceflight is valuable because of the research it induces and the economic benefits it brings. It also brings national pride of to any country that wants to lead the space exploration. And this period of space exploration certainly creates a true national identity. From a security and defense perspective, mastering human spaceflight show to the rest of the world the technical prowess of any country.
Spin-off magazine highlights NASA’s pursuit of its charter to “research, develop, verify, and transfer advanced aeronautics, space, and related technologies.” 50 years of NASA–derived technologies have helped enhance global economy via commercialization of products and services in the field of health and medicine, industry, consumer goods, transportation, public safety, computer technology, and environmental resources. More importantly, human space flight has developed cutting edge technologies. This presentation highlights variety of NASA-derived technologies developed in the last 50 years, while describing their benefit in everyday life. Areas and disciplines covered include technical benefits of high speed computing, food safety, Micro-electronic Micro-mechanical systems, metal-cutting tool industry, combustion science, fire fighting apparatus etc. Some aspects of ISS research are also included in the presentation. How exploration focuses and influences engineering and science careers is discussed.
