Benefits of Space Exploration

[Damien Nelson]

Space Exploration benefits us all, but we don't all know what those benefits are. I would like to open this topic up for discussion by pointing out that NASA started cataloging technologies that were derived from the space program, and the list is around 1,500 items. You can view the list on the Coalition website Space Derived Products page. I'm sure there are plenty more. GPS is the one thing that stands out most to me as a technology that has really taken strides over the past few years. I remember buying a handheld Garmin GPS, maybe 8-10 years ago, and thinking how cool it was. That was on a small lcd screen with no street maps overlayed. There's been a ton of advances in medicine too!

[Julie Arnold]

Remember how big cell phones used to be...or I guess they were mobile phones at that point. Pretty amazing. The most important one in my book is kidney dialysis....it helped keep my Mom alive for over 10 years...that is the one most important benefit to me personally!