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Critics will remain negative There are critics from many corners who condemn the amounts of money spent in the pursuit of space. Some say there is no need to “waste” money playing around in space when there are so many people right here on earth who need help and could better use that money that now goes for space exploration and experimentation. Morton says, “The huge increase in government-financed research and development that came with Apollo did not increase America's overall technological lead. It may even reduced it, by drawing scientific and commercial talent into heroic fields and away from prosaic ones…People who would scorn to put extra dollars into welfare payments are happy to recommend that scientific explorers be given billions, bewitched by the frontier dreams of manifest destiny” (Morton 18). What Morton and others who hold with his views fail to take into account, however, are the vast benefits that we have already realized from space exploration. If we never gained any more benefits from our own space program than we have already seen, attaining them was well worth the cost in We haven’t heard much environmental comment in the past ten years from environmentalist actors on television commercials claiming that the ocean would be dead within seven years. Trained in acting rather than in oceanography or marine biology, some of these outspoken, visible souls were misled by other environmentalists in their claims of the proximity of catastrophe, and lacked either the ability or desire to educate themselves on their subjects of interest before speaking out so publicly. The earth’s ozone layer is another “dying ocean” topic. Unlike the uneducated actors, however, “scientists around the world are working to determine how much of the ozone related change in the atmosphere is caused by humans, and how much is attributed to natural processes” (Kenitzer 1996). Of the several NASA space labs scattered across the country, Goddard Space Flight Center is the one most focused on environmental matters. As such, Goddard teams are responsible for measuring and monitoring ozone levels found Launched in 1978 aboard the Nimbus 7 polar orbiting satellite, NASA’s “most visible and best-known ozone research instrument is the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS)” (Kenitzer 1996) is managed by Goddard and provides high-resolution maps of global ozone levels. Ozone depletion data supplied from TOMS has been instrumental in global agreements to phase out the use of ozone-depleting chemicals worldwide. The Antarctic ozone hole is seasonal and cyclical, being most prominent between August and October of each year. Though we don’t yet know how much of the witnessed ozone depletion is natural and how much is man-made, TOMS data shows that the seasonal depletion grew every year between its discovery in 1979 and 1994, when the depletion was the most dramatic ever recorded. Since then, however, the seasonal depletion has been shown to be much less severe than in the past (Kenitzer 1996). Goddard manages other environmental survey systems using data collected from satellite-mounted mechanisms. TOMS is simply the most visible because of the popular interest in the topic of ozone depletion, to the point that its discussion among the most ill-informed of the staunch environmentalists has replaced the death of the ocean that Other benefits of the space program concern diagnostic and monitoring techniques and devices used in the medical field. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a direct outgrowth of the system developed for use on manned space missions, and today is a standard diagnostic tool in every major hospital in the country (Cone 18). Since it reveals the structures of the soft tissues within the body, radiologists no longer are forced to rely solely on X-rays in order to make a “best guess” about what might be happening within an individual’s body. No longer relegated to dealing with visual shadows on X-rays, radiologists can attain perfect views of internal systems from any MRI has also moved exploratory surgery closer and closer to the realm of obsolescence. That in itself is a major benefit—there is growing concern and potential evidence that cancerous growths only begin their rampant runs after exposure to the atmosphere. If that theory does indeed prove to be true, then MRI has already saved lives in numbers of which no one can measure. Another medical benefit resulting from the necessary monitoring of manned space expeditions is that of telemedicine. “Telemedicine is the interactive transmission of medical images and data to provide better health care for people in remote or ‘medically underserved’ locations. The concept has been around since the 1920s and its general viability has been demonstrated since the 1950s, but wide adoption was slowed by high costs and technological shortcomings” (www.sti.nasa.gov). Though the first reasons for the idea of telemedicine had more to do with providing services for those in remote areas, the entire focus has changed in light of the burgeoning cost of health care in this country in recent years. The transmission of a heart rate and pattern over phone lines is much more convenient for the patient with such ailments, and it holds down the costs of health care without decreasing the quality of care nor reducing the attention of maintenance procedures. There are serious questions about the viability of Medicare programs; this can be a useful cost-saving measure. Another benefit derived from the space program is the digital imaging breast biopsy system. This system images breast tissue more clearly and efficiently that earlier methods. Known as stereotactic large-core needle biopsy, this nonsurgical system was derived from Space Telescope Technology. The beauty of the new method is that it is less intrusive, reduces the pain, scarring, radiation exposure, time, and money associated with surgical biopsies The nay-sayers frequently concede that there have been benefits, but none that affect the population as a whole, choosing to view improved health care and diagnosis as areas that affect only those experiencing immediate problems and totally divorcing themselves from military advantages. Many of them maintain that there is no practical application in the lives of people in general, but they neglect to consider such routine, mundane items as cookware and cable There may be some households in this country that do not have at least one Teflon–coated skillet, but there cannot possibly be many of them. DuPont, the company that developed Teflon under contract to NASA for use in space exploration, has gained much in sales and royalties of their product. Teflon has been used as carpet finishes for several years, and now clothing manufacturers are even joining in (Lord and Brindley 72). This one product has direct, daily impact on the people of the country, and the effects on DuPont’s bottom line serves to ever-strengthen the economy, in whatever percentage. The cable television industry alone is one of billions, and is now totally dependent on satellite transmission. It also has the attention of millions of viewers each and every day of the week. Again, the percentage of contribution to the nation’s economy may not in itself be exceedingly impressive, though that same contribution determines the fortunes of the businesses involved in it. It is NASA is mandated by Congress to “promote the transfer to the private sector of technologies developed in the course of aerospace research, and many of the technologies that make telemedicine possible were originally developed for acquiring visual information from lunar and planetary Though NASA might not be so willing to share with private industry all the technological advances their budgets allow them to achieve without the Congressional mandate, the fact is that that mandate does exist, and NASA does comply. In addition, many of the NASA scientists are the foremost in their fields of expertise and have a high level of interest in contributing the most good for the most people. Of course NASA’s primary interest is a successful space program, but the technological strides they make are available for all of us who pay their bills. The nay-sayers are always with us, but they consistently refuse to examine the benefits we have already gained from this country’s space program. Those benefits have hardly been touched on in a paper of this length: a study of the robotics advances that prevent workers from having to be exposed to hazardous environments or relieve human counterparts from mindless, repetitious manufacturing processes has not even been addressed here. Neither has been the invaluable military uses afforded by some of the many satellites now orbiting the earth (Anderson 19). There are more (and more) examples of the benefits we as a nation have realized from advances made by means of the space program. All the benefits addressed here are literally down-to-earth; not one mention has been made of the potentials we have reached in the actual environment of Bibliography: Anderson, Douglas. “A Military Look Into Space: the Ultimate High Ground.,” Army Lawyer, (1995) : November, p. 19. Cone, Robert J. “Medical Imaging.,” How the New Technology Works: A Guide to High-tech Concepts (1991) :Vol. 1, Sept., p. 18-26. http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/spinoff1996/27.html http://www.thesapceplace.com Kenitzer, Allen. “Expanding Horizons with Science and Discovery.,” Goddard Space Flight Center, http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/, (1996) : May 20. Lord, Mary and Brindley, David. “You Can be Dressed to Spill.,” U.S. News & World Report, (1997) : May 19, p. 72. Morton, O. “To Boldly Go…,” Economist, (1991) : June 15, p. 18. Word Count: 1482
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