far more than the oft-cited “technology spinoffs” that themselves will continue to bring significant economic benefits to the world’s markets. At a macro level, the advent of precision navigation from space is a transformational innovation that we still do not fully appreciate. The ability to know where things are, anyplace on or near Earth, is a truly stunning milestone for safety and navigation.
Similarly, space has enabled companies with operations scattered around the world to operate as a single unit, integrating their voice and data requirements to create a virtual e-campus with a rolling work-day through 24 time zones. These e-integrated companies lower their operating costs, improve their productivity, reach more clients worldwide, and increase sales.
Beyond the miracle of precision navigation and the expanding impact of e-businesses, instantaneous communications and access available from space have made the world smaller and her people more interactive. People in every corner of every land can see and participate in events around the world as they happen – there is no isolation anymore, even for those few who try to direct it. Awareness reduces ignorance that too often breeds mistrust, suspicion and hostility. At any level, space is making the world a safer place.
Space also provides a venue for bringing our country together in noble adventures of discovery and wonder. The 20th Century expeditions to put telescopes in space, humans on the moon, and robots on Mars have expanded our frontiers beyond the limits of our atmosphere and, more importantly, beyond the limits of our minds.
Finally, the brute force technological obstacles of building gizmos that can survive and operate in the unforgiving environment of outer space have reaped exceptional benefits within many engineering disciplines. In particular, space projects of the 20th Century can justifiably be credited with virtually inventing the field of Systems Engineering. These space endeavors demanded the ability of thousands of people from hundreds of companies and organizations in dozens of countries to work together and create something bigger than any one group could do themselves. These pioneers produced a staggering array of circuits, black boxes, components, assemblies, software, networks and architectures, and then made them operate as a seamless whole. The magnitude of these programs dwarfs the massiveness of the pyramids and the intricacies of the Manhattan Project – the Systems Engineering discipline has really been the key to our successes in space.
As we look across today’s societies, our governments, and our industries, it is hard to find the 21st Century equivalent of these grand and glorious projects that kept our minds sharp and our talents focused. Indeed, we may be losing our ability to conduct thorough, ruthless Systems Engineering, which threatens our ability to solve tremendously challenging problems here on Earth. Ecosystem stability, energy sufficiency, environmental pollution abatement, world health systems, and other grand-scale societal problems that need to be relentlessly tackled by humankind – all depend upon exceptional Systems Engineering skills honed in space.
Brig. Gen.(Ret.)
Robert
Eric
Larned
Vice President, Space Programs
Burdeshaw Associates, Limited
http://www.burdeshaw.com
Professional Category:
Military
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