[Reading Science] Your Sunglasses and Vacuum Cleaner... Actually 'For Space Use'?

Water Purifiers, Fire Alarms, GPS, and More: Numerous 'Spin-Off' Cases
'Expensive Space Development' Upgrades Human Life Quality Through Derived Technologies

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] "Why on earth do we pursue space development that only costs money?" This is a common question heard around us even amid the fierce global competition in space development. There are various reasons, but if you take just one look at how technologies developed during the space development process have advanced human life, you won't be able to say that.

The most representative example is the location information system called 'GPS (Global Positioning System).' It's an essential technology when driving or finding a meeting place on a smartphone, right? According to the '2020 Space White Paper' published by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the GPS technology originally developed by the United States for military purposes is utilized in a wide range of industries such as car navigation, precision agriculture, finance, oil and gas industries, and telecommunications. The U.S. Department of Defense invested $15 billion over about 20 years from the 1970s to create the NAVSTAR GPS program to enable precise location identification anywhere on Earth using radio waves from four satellites during military operations.

Navigation. Stock photo.

This was opened to the public after 1980, and by 2017, the revenue generated by civilian industries through GPS reached a whopping $1.2 trillion. South Korea is currently working on establishing a Korean-style GPS to improve the accuracy, which is now at about 30 meters, and to secure national safety and independent technology. This shows how important this technology is both industrially and for national security.

Water purifiers, which we appreciate every morning and while cooking, also advanced from space technology. NASA developed them to solve astronauts' drinking water issues during the Apollo program for manned lunar exploration. Smoke detection fire alarms, essential for home safety, were created to extinguish fires that could occur on space stations.

Water purifier. Stock photo. Not related to the article.

Memory foam, widely used in mattresses and pillows in bedrooms, was designed to protect pilots by absorbing shocks inside spacecraft. It was developed as a sponge-like soft padding to absorb impact, which has since evolved and is now used in mattresses and pillows. Infrared thermometers, which became popular during the COVID-19 era, and freeze-dried food manufacturing technologies also belong to 'space technology.' These technologies were later opened to the public and created enormous markets.

Various space technologies are also used in the medical field. Technologies essential for imaging wounds, disease progression, and fractures inside the human body, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT), originated from digital image processing technology for spacecraft. LASIK surgery devices and excimer laser treatments commonly used for vision correction utilized automatic rendezvous and docking technologies of spacecraft, while pacemakers and cochlear hearing devices developed from communication technologies between artificial satellites and base stations.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Stock photo.

Additionally, sunglasses were designed to block the intense light of space, and vacuum cleaners were created for cleaning inside gravity-free spacecraft. Insulation materials that revolutionized home culture were devised to block the high friction heat generated when passing through Earth's atmosphere and to protect astronauts from sudden temperature changes in space. NASA publishes a book every year compiling such 'spin-off' cases of space technology. There was once a rumor that advanced U.S. technology development included alien space technology found in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) from incidents like the 'Roswell' event. We are currently living using 'space technology' that has subtly permeated our daily lives without us even realizing it.