Space Technology: An Important Innovation
Man is a finite being with infinite thoughts. One of the
most creative thought was to go in search of things that were unseen or maybe
seen but out of reach. Yes, it was the space world. With the evolution of
technology over the years and a curious mind, human started working on
developing technologies that will go far and beyond the galaxy to discover more
unknown treasures that have been hidden. Is there life on another planet, what
is the moon made up of, are the stars real, what is the temperature on the sun
are some of the intriguing questions that led to the introduction astronomy. Space
technology, is responsible for rapidly developing, innovating, demonstrating,
and infusing revolutionary and high pay off technologies that enable research
and discoveries more efficiently.
The beneficial uses of outer space, including strengthening
communications infrastructures, disaster management, education, agriculture,
environmental protection and natural resource management, had enormous
relevance for human development, especially for developing countries
Space-based technologies, namely communications satellites,
enable global telecommunications systems by relaying signals with voice, video
and data to and from one or many locations. For instance, instead of constructing
a series of transmission and relay towers to broadcast television programmes to
far-to-reach places, one satellite dish could be provided to a remote community
to pick up broadcast signals sent from a satellite.
The Global Positioning System commonly known as GPS was
first developed by the military for precision navigation and weapon targeting
purposes. However today GPS is used for various reasons and has proven to be a
top-notch innovation. Using maps and travel atlases and stopping to ask for directions
are now largely anachronisms. GPS has enabled ride-hailing services, as well as
package tracking and delivery. It has improved our fitness by tracking our
workouts. It has improved our safety by quickly providing our location in
emergency situations.
Another popularly cited benefit of space technology is “job
creation”, or the fact that a space agency and its network of contractors,
universities and other entities help people stay employed. From time to time,
NASA puts out figures concerning how many associated jobs a project generates,
or the economic impact.
The FireWatch is a technology used to monitor forests and
detect fires using high-resolution optical sensors installed on towers or masts
and connecting to a remote central office. The sensors can distinguish over
16,000 scales of grey, which allows it to spot developing fires in any weather
or during any time of day, with a detection rate of more than 90%. Positioning
satellites are used to track endangered wildlife, and a turtle with GPS receiver
attached is shown in the video. Today, over 7 million acres of forests
worldwide use the technology.
There are numerous benefits of space technology for humans
today. Fascinating as it may sound, space technology is a compilation of
innovation, passion and hard work of some extremely curious minds who have
inspired and intrigued humans by the outer world. Space technology is evolving
rapidly and has created an inquisition to know more about what goes on beyond.
Read More >>
