Happy Birthday NASA

On this day in 1958, President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act establishing NASA. Yeah, it was born into the Cold War, but the amount of discoveries that have sprung forth from NASA R&D efforts are astounding. NASA pushed discoveries made in the pursuit of space exploration into our homes and workplaces, making our everyday lives a little easier and the world a better place.

NASA gave us an eye in the sky. For the first time, we could monitor our environment from an orbital point of observation, effectively watch civilisation impinging on the Earth. A silent alarm bell was born; something we are still trying to listen to and act on today.

Since NASA’s foundation, the science of materials technology has been revolutionised. Without the commitment of materials researchers to develop harder, lighter compounds the world would not have seen carbon fibre. F1 cars could never fly as fast, surfboards and skateboards would still be grounded and space-aged guitars would just be a dream.

And that’s just the start. The Independent has a great list of just 50 inventions made possible by NASA. Take a look. Share it with a young scientist! Where would the world be without the handheld Dirt Devil?

I suppose the biggest contribution that NASA made was to turn the world into a marble. At its inception NASA was focussed on eeking out supremecy of the skies. Might is right. American might is better. Stronger. Ironically, space exploration has made nations people humble.

Having a man walk on the moon was a triumph for NASA and American spin doctors of the Cold War, but didn’t those stark, unearthly photos of the lunar surface and our tiny blue planet change our perspective on the importance of national conflicts and racial difference? Like a live-action Pale Blue Dot (yes, I’m linking again – I love that video). Call it the Galileo effect of the 20th Century. If the only gift NASA gave to the world was that thought, then we ought to be eternally grateful. NASA gives so much more. I can’t wait to see the wonders that the next fifty years bring. Happy birthday, NASA!

Some nice NASA resources to explore:

July 29th, 2008 at 1:30 pm • Filed in Geekery



Comments

Leave a Reply