You Learn Something Everyday

               The other day I got into a debate with a friend of mine.  The argument he was putting forward was mostly a ‘what have you done for me lately’ attitude about NASA and why we should continue to spend billions of dollars per year on something ‘everyday people don’t benefit from.’  Why don’t we spend that money here on Earth to improve our quality of life?  This spurred my inspiration to do a blog post about it. 

            Over the years, NASA has taught us an extreme amount of scientific knowledge, and has pushed modern scientists to go above and beyond the status quo.  The daunting conditions and implications of space travel has brought out the best in creativity and cooperation from our brightest minds, creating innumerable new technologies that benefit people not just in the US, but around the world.  In the medical field, NASA has greatly contributed to radiological technology and even artificial heart pumps and defibrillators.  In order to service spacecraft, a mechanical arm was developed that is now used in operating rooms across the world, allowing surgeons to operate three instruments simultaneously.  In the year 2000 NASA developed an internet based Global Differential GPS to secure a real-time capability for position and orbit determination.  This technology you probably use weekly on your iPhone, trying to find your way.  Back in the ‘70’s NASA developed a Teflon-coated fiberglass as a fabric for spacesuits to protect astronauts from extreme temperatures.  This material has been used as permanent roofing material for buildings and stadiums around the world.  NASA also created a seven-step system to monitor food productions to assure astronauts did not get sick while on a mission.  Years later, the FDA and Agriculture Department adopted the use of this system nationwide.  The year after these methods were implemented, the number of salmonella cases dropped by a factor of two.  The multi-spectral imaging methods used for analyzing far away bodies was used to read charred ancient Roman manuscripts buried in the Mt. Vesuvius eruption in 79 A.D.  Reportedly, this method allowed scholars to decode the carbonized manuscripts by observing them at different wavelengths, knowledge that otherwise would have been forever lost. 

            There recently has been a new development from the space program that can help save lives and also water.  NASA has recently been working on a new rocket-engine design.  The new design uses a new method to ignite fuel in the ignition chamber.  Now, as the fuel is pumped into the chamber, it’s spinning very quickly, creating a vortex.  This vortex more precisely focuses the flow and the fuel is kept closer to the center of the chamber which in turn keeps the walls of the chamber cooler.  Using the same ‘vortex pumping’ technology, engineers have designed a new way to pump water more quickly and more efficiently for putting out fires.  A test was recently performed, to see how fast this new pump could put out fires.  The new pump discharges at 1,400 psi (pounds per square inch) versus 125 psi in the standard fire hose and an astounding 20 gallons per minute, versus the old 100 gpm.  So, it has much more force and uses much less water.  Can it really put out the same fire with less water?  The results of the test were undeniable.  The test fire was put out in 105 seconds using 220 gallons of water using the standard fire hose water line.  The new system extinguished the same fire in 17.3 seconds using only 13.6 gallons of water.  Amazing!  The fire was put out 83% faster using 93% less water!  On top of all that, the new hose doesn’t require more than one fire fighter to control it.  It can be operated by a single individual, allowing other rescuers on the scene to do other important things, increasing safety overall. 

            The government could not have foreseen specific breakthroughs in technology, nor can we expect to predict what might come next, but the simple fact still remains: investing in science will always bring us new technology.  The space program has led to countless inventions and methods that increase our well-being and quality of life as a planet, giving us innovations that critically benefit our lives.