I will give you a most personal comment about what space activities have meant for me.
In January 1991 Richard Branson and I did the first and only crossing of the Pacific by hot air balloon. Due to solar eruptions we lost all communications for 10 hours and were completely blind. We did have an automatic satellite tracking device (Tiros) on board, however, since the envelope was metallised it could not pick up a signal. All we had was an HF transceiver and an Omega Navigator. Had we gone down no-one would have found us in time.
In 1998 when Richard and I attempted the global circumnavigation flying from Marrakech to Hawaii we had two satellite telephones, satellite data communication, real time telemetry and the ability to send broadcast quality video from inside the capsule. GPS navigation not only gave us instant positioning, speed and direction but the control centre would have the GPS data only in a few later seconds later. In fact radar coverage over northern China was so bad that our control centre in London had to tell the Chinese Air Traffic where we were every 10 minutes.
To sum it up communications and navigation in the air have been revolutionised by space activities.
Dr.
Per
Lindstrand
CEO
Lindstrand Balloons Ltd
http://www.lindstrand.co.uk
Professional Category:
Business
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