This article was automatically translated from the original Spanish version. Read the original in Spanish.
Until a few years ago, space travel and the exploration of space were only imagined by a handful of people dedicated to science, or by writers who, thanks to their imagination and ingenuity, managed to recreate interplanetary journeys, unknown worlds, and the possibility of finding life on other planets in their books.
It is the desire to discover the world around us, and curiosity itself, that has led human beings to look up at the sky and try to uncover the mysteries hidden in the universe. At first, only through the senses, sometimes trying to explain different phenomena through magic or religion. But as time went on, humans took on the task of designing and building increasingly sophisticated instruments that allow us to get closer to the unknown and contribute to scientific and technological development.
Some of the most notable instruments for space exploration have been the Voyager spacecraft and the Hubble Space Telescope. The latter, which orbits the Earth, has made more than 1.3 million observations since its mission began in 1990 and has enabled scientists and astronomers to publish more than 15,000 scientific papers, making it one of the most productive scientific instruments ever built. As Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD), put it, the Voyagers — two probes with 40 years of operation that are now in interstellar space — “have educated us on the unknown wonders of the universe and have truly inspired humanity to continue exploring our solar system and beyond.”
The study and observation of the cosmos has enabled not only progress in our understanding of the universe, but also in our knowledge of our own planet, which still holds secrets that remain the subject of research. These studies gain real significance to the extent that they allow humans to understand their environment and predict what might happen based on their relationship with it.
As Waleed Abdalati, former chief scientist of NASA, put it, “by sending astronauts into space and trying to understand their biological responses to the space environment, we have learned a lot about human beings… Many of the instruments found in an emergency room, for example, were created thanks to the investments NASA made to monitor and understand human health and performance in a space environment.” This is how, in order to successfully carry out different space missions, key technologies have been developed in fields as diverse as medicine, communications, security, information technology, the environment, and transportation.
By exploring space, and thanks to satellites, we have managed to gather and store a great deal of information about our planet related to the atmosphere, oceans, vegetation, and climate. In addition, satellites have enabled the operation of global positioning systems, television networks, radio stations, and cell phone service.
In short, exploring space, although not an easy task, represents an opportunity to obtain relevant information that helps us understand our planet, the solar system, and its surroundings, with the goal of discovering and explaining the different phenomena that occur there.
References:
Garner, R. (2017). About the Hubble Space Telescope. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html
Adamu, Z. (2012). How space exploration changed life on Earth. http://expansion.mx/tecnologia/2012/10/28/como-la-exploracion-espacial-cambio-la-vida-en-la-tierra