Gentlefolk,

I hope that you are just pulling my leg, but on the off chance that you are unaware of some of the benefits of space exploration, I shall list a few.

Scratch-resistant lenses for eyeglasses are a spinoff product from something developed to protect satellites from getting nicked by space debris. Nitinol is a medical alloy which makes wearing dental braces easier. Nitinol was developed to enable satellites to “open up” more easily when deployed from the cramped confines of a launch vehicle.

Back in the 60’s Project Mercury technicians invented an automatic blood pressure measuring device. You can use the consumer edition of that device in many pharmacies for an instant check-up. Heart pacemakers communicate through electronic telemetry similar to that developed to operate satellites orbiting the earth. The implantable insulin pump that helps keep diabetics alive borrows technology from the mechanical robot arm on the first Mars Voyager probe. There’s a miniature blood pump which has been approved for use in humans. This heart pump uses technology from Space Shuttle fuel pumps.

Another spinoff from the space program comes from the HST’s Charge Coupled Device (CCD) chips. The CCD chips enable imaging that can discern between a malignant or benign tumor without the need for a biopsy. The cost for this procedure is hundreds of dollars versus thousands for a biopsy. Multiply that by the half million women each year who have one, and you are talking real money. There is also the personal avoidance of surgery with the attendant risk and scarring.

In the sphere of Earth sciences, remote-sensing technology implemented in satellites has been very valuable in areas such as disaster preparedness and mitigation, ocean health monitoring, weather prediction, forest and agricultural management and land use planning. Focusing on weather prediction alone, the American economy saves millions of dollars every year form the improved predictions provided by satellites operating in space.

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Eudaimonia