I believe space is impacting society in all aspects of humanity’s life on Earth ranging from the satisfaction of the basic needs of survival to the highest ideals of a civilized society. Space has fueled the imagination of the human race since the beginning of intelligent thought.
The use of space started out with the need for military protection and preservation of peace. The initial technological breakthroughs, which were fueled by ideological competition of two very different societies, have eventually matured into services that enable all people on Earth to communicate with one another, learn from one another, help one another and prevent or mitigate disasters.
Space has enabled globalization with all of its good and bad consequences. It facilitates the expansion of commerce and productivity, it enables the understanding of the impact of human activities on our planet and it drives technological developments that are rapidly expanding into non-space related applications. Space helps create a global civilized society, which can look forward to living responsibly without hunger, misery and devastating disease. The mark of a civilized society is the freedom to explore in order to satisfy the basic human drive of curiosity.
Exploration brings new and often unexpected knowledge and understanding, which in turn has a profound and irreversible impact on society. Just as the current evolution of human society on Earth would have been totally different without the use of space, so is the future evolution inconceivable without the use of space.
Dr.
Michael
I.
Yarymovych
Former-President
International Academy of Astronautics
http://www.iaanet.org
Professional Category:
Engineering
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