Thermometers and memory foam: how space exploration affected everyday life. Details

Humanity has been exploring space for decades, enriching itself with the knowledge gained in the process. The results of this work are not always noticeable, but it is thanks to space that revolutionary changes have taken place in many areas of life, from communications to dental bite correction. What space exploration has brought to people is in the Izvestia article.

How space works for humans

• Space exploration has made it possible to create satellite navigation systems. When the USSR launched the first artificial satellite into orbit in 1957, American scientists picked up its signal and were able to accurately calculate its location. They were helped by the Doppler effect — the frequency of radiation from the satellite changed as it approached and moved away from the receiver, which made it possible to determine the coordinates by simple calculations.

• Scientists soon realized that calculations can work in the opposite direction — using previously known satellite coordinates, it is possible to detect where the signal receiver is located on earth. 20 years later, the creation of the first navigation system began, which eventually became known as GPS. In December 1976, the development of the Soviet GLONASS system began. These and other systems have simplified navigation on land, on water and in the air, and made it possible to determine the coordinates of any objects where the transmitter is installed.

• A similar principle of operation is used in the global search and rescue system Cospas-Sarsat. Its emergency beacons are installed on ships and aircraft. In the event of an accident, the system transmits a distress signal and coordinates via satellite to the rescue station. Already in 1982, three people who crashed on a plane in Canada were rescued at the testing stage. Until 2022, while statistics were being kept, Cospas-Sarsat saved more than 60 thousand people in 18 thousand accidents.

• Space satellites have made remote sensing of the Earth possible — collecting operational information about the state of the atmosphere, the oceans, and the upper layer of the Earth's crust. Such data is useful in many areas of the economy, from agriculture to energy. Satellite monitoring is especially important for assessing natural disasters and their consequences. This is done by most of the world's space agencies, united by the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters.

• Meteorological satellites are classified in a separate category. The launch of spacecraft allows scientists to collect information for weather forecasting, which is especially important for those areas where it is difficult to observe from the Ground. Weather satellites also allow you to track climate change and warn of the formation of hurricanes.

• Satellites have become another way of transmitting telephone and Internet communications. Although their bandwidth and reliability are not as high as that of cable and cellular networks, spacecraft have another advantage — they provide connectivity to any, the most inaccessible point on Earth.

What technologies did space give you?

• In the process of space exploration, scientists sometimes created technologies that later turned out to be useful in everyday life. For example, memory foam. Astronauts in spacecraft need individually designed seats that are easier to handle overloading, but it would be extremely expensive to design a new seat each time. The engineers were helped out by specially treated polyuritan, which takes the shape of a body that presses on it. The material with this property became the basis for orthopedic pillows and mattresses, as well as for sports helmets.

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• The lack of gravity in space creates a problem with the delivery of liquid fuel in the combustion chamber — in zero gravity, it simply does not flow where it is needed. The solution was to create a ferromagnetic liquid that can be attracted to a magnet and move in the right direction. In addition to the space industry, this technology is also used in loudspeakers, hard drives, and other electronic devices.

• Attempts to create nutritious and convenient food for astronauts have had an impact on the Earth's diet. In the course of experiments, NASA researchers found nutrients that were also safe for infant formulas, and developed freeze-drying technology, in which the mass of food is reduced by five times with almost no loss of nutritional value.

• The space industry has always been interested in having the most compact and high-quality cameras for filming in space. To do this, engineers developed CMOS arrays, which began to be used in digital cameras instead of the old CCD arrays. When the technology entered the civilian industry in the early 2000s, it radically reduced the size of cameras and allowed them to fit into the body of phones.

How space has influenced medicine

Space exploration has also had a great impact on medicine. A by-product of the creation of instruments for measuring the temperature of distant stars and planets was the appearance of an infrared electronic thermometer. It has made it much easier to measure the temperature of infants and adults who are uncomfortable using conventional thermometers.

• When NASA was faced with the task of developing a suitable material to protect the infrared antennas of its rocket systems, scientists synthesized polycrystalline aluminum oxide, which is essentially a translucent ceramic. Its hypoallergenic properties and durability proved to be suitable for creating invisible dental braces, which have become a pleasant alternative to classic metal ones.

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• The greatest danger for astronauts in zero gravity is muscular atrophy. Without gravity, the body does not receive enough load and gradually weakens. To solve this problem, special load suits were designed, which causes astronauts to feel weight and exerts the necessary pressure for tone. Suits with the same principle of operation are also used in medical rehabilitation, helping patients with cerebral palsy and central nervous system injuries.

Weightlessness in space can also serve humanity well. Scientists have noticed that in microgravity, cell growth differs from how it occurs on Earth. Cells divide faster and more voluminously. This allows not only to study them better, but also opens up new possibilities in the artificial cultivation of tissues and organs, which can be a breakthrough in transplantology.