Fifty years ago you would have been hard pressed to find anyone, ( even a SCI FI writer), who would believe that in the near future we would have a safe home in the sky for 10 people from all over the world, whirling about the planet. Sort of like someone telling you now that soon there will be kids on Mars with lemonade stands on every corner! LOL!
But, since November 2000, The International Space Station has been staffed with people from 15 nations around the globe and it’s been blazing a trail for the whole world’s populations to work together for a Greener and Cleaner Big Blue Marble for all of us!
About 200 miles up above our heads, (and able to be seen with the naked eye), our future has been written and keeps be written as it beams down the technology to fuel the Green and Clean movement on to creating an even better Mother Earth!
The International Space Station, (ISS), is powered by 16 solar arrays mounted on external trusses and four smaller arrays on the Russian modules. When asked her opinion about the stations electrical system, astronaut Nicole Stott said, “Amazing! It’s a beautiful, self-sufficient system. The ultimate “green,” “renewable-energy,” “self-sustainable” solar-powered system.”
This has helped pioneer the strides on the solar energy front down here on earth that the last decade has seen. Even to some buildings on firm ground now being “self-sustainable” solar-powered systems.”
Even though the ISS orbits once around the Earth every 90 minutes, and experiences sunrise and sunset every 45 minutes, at 17,500 mph there are still are a lot more things it can teach us about living on a greener and cleaner earth!
Stott also said, “water is one of the other things where we are self-sufficient. We still get water delivered to us from the space shuttle or other cargo vehicles, but we are not dependent on it. We now have a system that takes our waste water and processes it into clean drinking water. And yes, it tastes great! This is one of many examples of systems actively working on board the space station that can also be applied to improving life on Earth.”
Another way the ISS has improved our lives is dealing with heat and cold. Their variations go from 250 degrees below zero to 250 above! The development for their insulation has led to improvements for the earthling dwellings. The ISS’s sophisticated heat and cold control systems have also found their way into cutting edge buildings on the ground.
NASA’s eyes in the sky have also given us a platform from which to do scientific studies and take readings, to see the causes and effects of pollution and also for remediation.
When you have a whole planet to take care of and improve, it is a very good thing to have Eyes in the Skies! The Space Station is just the start of technology and science that is going to call space home, to improve the lives of everyone on Terra Firma! The quintessential example of, “out of this world”, becoming the epitome of progress!
Thank you,
Dave Briggs :~)