Your Tax Dollars at Work

From time to time when watching things like the space shuttle it is difficult to remember that there are benefits the go far beyond the exploration of space. NASA actually maintains a journal, Spinoff, that reports on ideas & technologies that had their start in space exploration and then made their way into our lives in other ways. Some of this stuff is so every day now we don't even think about it.

Here's a smattering:

Advanced keyboards, Customer Service Software, Database Management System, Laser Surveying, Aircraft controls, Lightweight Compact Disc, Expert System Software, Microcomputers, and Design Graphics.

Dustbuster, shock-absorbing helmets, home security systems, smoke detectors, flat panel televisions, high-density batteries, trash compactors, food packaging and freeze-dried technology, cool sportswear, sports bras, hair styling appliances, fogless ski goggles, self-adjusting sunglasses, composite golf clubs, hang gliders, art preservation, and quartz crystal timing equipment.

Whale identification method, environmental analysis, noise abatement, pollution measuring devices, pollution control devices, smokestack monitor, radioactive leak detector, earthquake prediction system, sewage treatment, energy saving air conditioning, and air purification.

Arteriosclerosis detection, ultrasound scanners, automatic insulin pump, portable x-ray device, invisible braces, dental arch wire, palate surgery technology, clean room apparel, implantable heart aid, MRI, bone analyzer, and cataract surgery tools.

Storm warning services (Doppler radar), firefighters' radios, lead poison detection, fire detector, flame detector, corrosion protection coating, protective clothing, and robotic hands.

Safer bridges, emission testing, airline wheelchairs, electric car, auto design, methane-powered vehicles, windshear prediction, and aircraft design analysis.

Looking at that shortened list, I can't think of what many of the things listed have to do with space exploration. I am glad though that something jump-started the research and engineering that brought them about. These items are part of a more complete listing you can view here.

There's also another, more verbose accounting here.

Searching "benefits of space research" hits over 21 million articles. Discussions are not only centered around NASA but also the ESA and even the Russian program. One article I think was particularly poignant was this one. It was written just after the Columbia accident.

Sometimes it is hard to see where our resources are best spent. Like support of the arts and humanities, in the face of all the problems in the world spending money on free research can seem like a misplaced venture. But even though this effort does not put food directly in the mouths of the hungry or lift the boot off the necks of the oppressed, the improvements to the quality of life effect all of us and make this a better world to live in.