The unforeseen benefits of exploring space

Etched into the history of the 20th century is the weapons race of the 1960s between two superpowers, competing against each other both on Earth and in space to assert their dominance and to develop weapons that can obliterate a target regardless of its location on this world.
However, while launching tens of thousands of rockets into Earth orbit, humanity learnt that space exploration brings many benefits that went far beyond the military sphere. These unexpected elements of space exploration began to transcend the daily lives of all humans, and cascaded down all levels of society, from the aristocrats of high-society Europe to nomad herders in the Mongolian plateau. For the sake of simplicity, these elements of space exploration will be referred to throughout this column as spin-offs.
There is one shared aspect among all human civilizations, and it is that all members of our species looked at the night sky, its stars, and the universe. Moreover, since humanity began recording history, it can be argued that all civilizations that were considered powerful or advanced for their time studied, referred, and kept track of the celestial bodies of the universe. The Chinese referred to star patterns in the sky to dictate their years and associated their luck with the patterns they observed. The Greeks and Romans referred to the planets for religious and political reasons. Muslims referred to Earth’s moon to dictate the Islamic calendar and trade routes by land and sea. On a modern note, countries that are advanced in the fields of space science and technology are also influential in the political arena. Learning about the cosmos has allowed humanity to push the boundaries of knowledge, and, as the saying goes, “knowledge is power.”
 

Learning about the cosmos has allowed humanity to push the boundaries of knowledge, and knowledge is power. 

Saeed Al-Gergawi 

Nations that pursued power through knowledge were able to maintain their positions in the global arena, as well as maintain their continuity as a civilization. Jonathan Lyons, author of “The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization,” has studied US soft power throughout different sectors. The study indicated that when the US was progressing with scientific and technological developments, its global reputation increased positively. The study showed the soft power that science has provided for US diplomatic efforts. Furthermore, recent US advances in science and technology are the direct results of its investments in the space race that began more than half a century ago. 
Since 1975, more than 30,000 spin-off technologies and products were created by three space agencies — NASA in the US, Roscosmos in Russia and the European Space Agency. These technologies can be seen in every facet of our lives, from water filters in every home to the powdered milk that parents feed their infants after birth. NASA releases a yearly report that highlights different spin-off technologies, displaying the journey of how such technologies came to be, what solutions these innovations provided and how they were introduced to the market. Additionally, NASA has a mandate to assisting small and medium-sized businesses to commercialize NASA’s science and technology, and share intellectual property with private industry to ensure that the innovations of government cascade into society.
Other than spin-offs that are product-based, there are company-based spinoffs, which are companies that came to be because of the space program; individuals from those companies started their own companies, and the cycle continues to this day. An example of this is IBM, which developed the computers necessary to calculate the trajectory of the Apollo spacecraft as they headed to the moon and back to Earth. Many of its executives started their own companies after leaving IBM, which established much of the foundations of society that we know today. One of these spin-off companies is Advantis, a voice and data network company that developed much of the telecommunications infrastructure in the US. Advantis was later bought by the US communications giant AT&T.
Finally, space exploration has provided humanity with a new perspective in the way it began to view itself and its place in this ever-expanding universe. Exploring the cosmos has given us the opportunity to investigate phenomena that are impacting our home planet, and discover their truths. In addition to that, humanity was able to use these truths and allow such knowledge to be of use to all levels of society. Other than creating a paradigm shift in the manner in which humanity views itself, space exploration has transformed society rapidly by expediting how innovations are being studied, tested and implemented throughout the world.
At the turn of the 11th century, Arabs were able to calculate the curvature of the Earth, allowing them to identify the location of Makkah from anywhere in the Abbasid Empire. Then, however, the process of implementing such knowledge was extremely time-consuming. Today, all it takes is … the push of a button. 

• Saeed Al-Gergawi is a UAE researcher who specializes in the fields of science, technology and the future.