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Author
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Topic: What's the most significant benefit/spinoff of space flight ?
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Alan
New Member Posts:
From:
Registered:
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posted 08-06-2004 02:03 PM
   
Some people say space flight only gave us "Velcro" and "Teflon" ...What's the most significant spin-off ? |
nasamad
Member Posts: 2121
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 08-06-2004 03:14 PM
MRI Scanners ?Adam |
HouseDadX4
unregistered
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posted 08-06-2004 03:17 PM
Velcro is a cross between valure and crochet. Read that is the Idiots Guide to NASA. Another one of our finest moments... |
Danno
Member Posts: 572
From: Ridgecrest, CA - USA
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 08-06-2004 03:28 PM
Let's see, I will just shoot from the hip:Miniature computers (starting home PC boom) First global communications network Bio-sensors (used in every hospital now) Greatly improved Weather predictions Then there are tons of smaller things: velcro, teflon, flown flags, etc. The list is quite huge but I don't have time - Dan
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Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 08-06-2004 03:36 PM
What’s the most important in today’s economy ?
ENERGY ( power ) … and space flight provided it for mankind ;
In the mid-1960’s NASA developed alkali fuel cells for use in space. NASA chose the alkali fuel cells for many reasons including their ability to work in wide range of temperatures, the 70% power generating efficiency, and the drinking water that is produced as by-product of the chemical reaction. Recently these fuel cell designs lead to modern Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells which will be used worldwide as ENERGY-sources replacing petro-chemical applications. Hydrogen is the energy-source for the future, it can be produced out of water by using electricity from solar & wind-energy, and is stored as a gas. Mankind will use PEM fuel cells with Hydrogen for ALL the energy-requirements of the future !!!
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cfreeze79
Member Posts: 455
From: Herndon, VA, USA
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 08-07-2004 02:14 AM
Easy: Tang! The drink that took the astronauts to the moon... |
derek
Member Posts: 297
From: N.Ireland.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 08-07-2004 10:01 AM
The downfall of the Soviet empire.------------------
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BMckay
Member Posts: 3218
From: MA, USA
Registered: Sep 2002
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posted 08-07-2004 10:59 AM
Jobs! |
spaceman
Member Posts: 1104
From: Walsall, West Midlands, UK
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted 08-07-2004 11:11 AM
Sorry Guys,
George de Mestral invented ‘velcro’ the finished design was patented in 1955. The inventor formed Velcro Industries to manufacture his invention. Mestral was selling over sixty million yards of Velcro per year. Today it is a multi-million dollar industry. Although utilized by NASA it was not a space spin-off.
In 1938, Roy Plunkett capitalized on an accident and invented one of the best known and most widely used polymers of all time: Teflon. He was working for the Dupont Company.Spaceman
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SRB
Member Posts: 258
From:
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 08-07-2004 10:54 PM
The space program gave us the greatest achievement of the 20th Century - the first human landing on the moon. |
Rob Joyner
Member Posts: 1308
From: GA, USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 08-07-2004 11:42 PM
www.collectSPACE.com maybe?.... |
fabfivefreddy
Member Posts: 1067
From: Leawood, Kansas USA
Registered: Oct 2003
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posted 08-08-2004 01:14 AM
Realizing that we can accomplish any goal if we put forth our best efforts. Tahir |
Rizz
Member Posts: 1208
From: Upcountry, Maui, Hawaii
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 08-08-2004 03:00 AM
quote:
Originally posted by fabfivefreddy:
Realizing that we can accomplish any goal if we put forth our best efforts. Tahir
Very well said Tahir! |
Richard
New Member Posts: 5
From: Morrisonville, New York USA
Registered: Apr 2009
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posted 08-08-2004 03:18 AM
Ballbearings...Oh come on guys, it's all ballbearings nowdays! |
HouseDadX4
unregistered
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posted 08-08-2004 03:22 AM
Hey Wait, I know...Space Collectibles... |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2031
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 08-08-2004 06:28 AM
Forgive me if I get a little more ethereal here, but for me the greatest thing that ever came from the era of space flight is the simple fact that I have lived through one of the greatest-ever eras of human enterprise and endeavour. I embraced manned space flight as a youngster and I have never lost my passion for the subject. Despite the tragedies, it has been an undiminished interest of mine for more than forty years, and it has brought me not only into contact with many of the remarkable men and women who forged that history, and allowed me the privilege of writing about it, but I have gained and maintained wonderful friendships of lifelong tenure with like-minded people through it.The list of material benefits is a long and impressive one, but I would always answer that the greatest benefit for me is a selfish one - I will always be grateful for growing up and old in this truly incredible era, when a man first walked on the moon. |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1397
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 08-08-2004 06:49 AM
If you read "Chariots for Apollo" (IMO the BEST book about the Grumman LM) it closes with some incisive pages directed to the cynics and naysayers, outlining in considerable detail, all the benefits that have flowed from the space program. Should be required reading for those ignorant of the (social) return on investment. |
dss65
Member Posts: 1156
From: Sandpoint, ID, USA
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted 08-08-2004 10:15 PM
This is a bit like Tahir's very excellent answer, but I think the most important benefit is (or should be) the death of the myth that humankind was never meant to leave this planet.------------------
Don [This message has been edited by dss65 (edited August 08, 2004).] |
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