SHUTTLE PROGRAM CONTRIBUTIONS TO RENEWABLE ENERGY

Shuttle Atlantis
on final mission

On this, the month of the 42nd anniversary of the lunar landing and the end of America’s Space Shuttle program, I am rather misty-eyed. The most impressive feat of human engineering and sheer steely-eyed nerve I ever saw in person was the launch of the Space Shuttle. In a prior life I was lucky enough to have worked at NASA, on both the Shuttle program and that of the International Space Station. For me and for most of my colleagues, working at NASA was not just a job – it was a calling. It was part of an adventure and a point of pride and patriotism.

I find the end of the American Space Shuttle program – which is really the end of the American human space flight program is, at least for now – quite sad. I went to Florida to see Atlantis roar off the pad on July 8. It was my third or fourth launch but it was no less impressive, even though I was too far away to feel the sound reverberate in my chest. It is an experience like no other.

On previous launches I had watched from just 3 miles away, inside the Kennedy Space Center. The sound wave was always a surprise, coming a good 30 seconds from the time the vehicle topped the pad. It was as if the sound, now oscillating in your own body, made you a part of the astronauts’ trip too. You were in the shuttle with them, shaking from the seven million pounds of thrust and 17,000 mph needed to overcome gravity to reach low-Earth orbit, some 250-300 miles up.

Every launch for me was an adventure with four to seven human beings putting their faith and their lives in the hand of an incredible team of thousands of scientists, engineers and technicians – most of whom they would never meet. Landings were the triumphant return of the people who experienced a sunset and sunrise every 90 minutes – a select group of just over 500 who had seen our planet from a truly unique vantage point. Only the Shuttle could return big payloads back to Earth. Only the Shuttle landed on a runway with pilots guiding its glide path.

International Space Station
as seen from the Shuttle

So why should we care? If the adventure of space and the learning for learning’s sake argument doesn’t move you, how about the many ways NASA research and technology has affected our lives for the past 50 years?

In the renewable energy field, NASA’s experimental aircraft program led to a public-private partnership that resulted in the development of single crystal silicon solar power cells. There are now commonly in use residentially and commercially. All satellites and other spacecraft are at least partially powered by solar arrays.

Technology developed by NASA to produce oxygen and fuel on Mars has been applied to generate energy on Earth. A private partnership that involved companies such a Google, Genentech and Segway, developed the technology. Now called Bloom Energy, its ES-5000 Energy Server uses the planar solid oxide fuel cell technology the original team developed for the NASA Mars project – a 5kW fuel cell system. According to NASA, “At the core of the server are square ceramic fuel cells about the size of old fashioned computer floppy disks. Crafted from an inexpensive sand-like powder, each square is coated with special inks (lime-green ink on the anode side, black on the cathode side) and is capable of producing 25 watts—enough to power a light bulb. Stacking the cells—with cheap metal alloy squares in between to serve as the electrolyte catalyst—increases the energy output: a stack about the size of a loaf of bread can power an average home, and a full-size Energy Server with the footprint of a parking space can produce 100 kW, enough to power a 30,000-square-foot office building or 100 average U.S. homes.”

There have been proposals to harvest solar power directly from space – that is “beaming” it down for our use. This would require extensive on-orbit capability and transmission technology, but could, in time, decrease use of fossil fuels.

Basic steps in health, safety, communications and even casual entertainment find their roots in the government branch commonly associated with rocket ships and floating people. In fact, NASA has filed more than 6,300 patents with the U.S. government. Here are only 10 NASA inventions that youmight see everyday:

1. Invisible Braces

2. Scratch-resistant Lenses

3. Memory Foam

4. Ear Thermeter

5. Shoe Insoles

6. Long-distance Telecomunications

7. Adjustable Smoke Detector

8. Safety Grooving or carving grooves into concrete
9. Cordless tools

10. Water Filters




  The contribution of NASA technology to our daily lives is everywhere – from the resilience of our automobile tires to medical equipment (See NASA).

I can only hope that the policy makers will take the long view – even in these economic times – and make investment in American science and technology.

Elvia Thompson is Comunications Director of The Solar and Wind Expo, Founder of Annapolis Green and former NASA Public Affairs Officer.