6 space technologies we can use to improve life on Earth

Danielle Wood leads the Space Enabled research group at the MIT Media Lab, where she works to tear down the barriers that limit the benefits of space exploration to only the few, the rich or the elite. She identifies six technologies developed for space exploration that can contribute to sustainable development across the world -- from observation satellites that provide information to aid organizations to medical research on microgravity that can be used to improve health care on Earth. "Space truly is useful for sustainable development for the benefit of all peoples," Wood says.

I was 17 when I chose my career.

I was standing outside

on a hot summer night in Florida

and just a few miles from the ocean.

I was waiting for a miracle to happen.

That summer, I was privileged
to work as an intern

at NASA's Kennedy Space Center,

and the miracle I was waiting for

was the launch
of the Columbia Space Shuttle

carrying the Chandra X-Ray Observatory,

a telescope that would allow scientists
to peer into the edge of black holes.

The entire sky filled with light.

And it was as if it was daytime
in the middle of the night.

Soon, we could feel the rumble
of the engines vibrating in our chests.

And it wasn't a miracle;

it was the combined effort
of a team of thousands of people

who worked together

to make was seemed impossible a reality.

And I wanted to join that team.

So I decided to apply to a university
where I could study aerospace engineering.

And the following year,

I started at MIT
in my engineering training

and joined a student project
building space robots.

And everything was going as I planned,

except I was confused
about something important.

Now, my confusion arose
in my summer breaks.

I traveled to a school in Kenya,

and there I volunteered
with girls ages five to 17,

giving them lessons in English
and math and science.

And they taught me songs in Swahili.

And mostly, I just spent time
getting to know the girls,

enjoying their presence.

And I saw that these girls
and the leaders in their community,

they were overcoming important barriers

to allow these girls to have
the best possible chances in life.

And I wanted to join that team.

I wanted to be part of a team
that would help break down barriers

and improve the lives
of girls around the world.

But I was worried that studying
aerospace engineering

wasn't the most useful.

I was worried this team in Kenya
couldn't use the technology

I was learning about space.

But thankfully, I still learned
that I was wrong.

I came back and interned at NASA again,

and this time,

a mentor taught me

that countries like Kenya had been using
space technology for decades

to improve the lives
in their own countries.

And then I knew that I could have
a career in space

and in development.

This idea is not new.

In fact, in 1967, the nations
of the world came together

to write the Outer Space Treaty.

This treaty made a bold statement,

saying, "The exploration
and use of outer space

should be carried on
for the benefit of all peoples,

irrespective of their level
of economic or scientific development."

We have not truly lived up to this ideal,

although people have worked
for decades to make this a reality.

Forces such as colonialism and racism

and gender inequality

have actually excluded many people
from the benefits of space

and caused us to believe
that space is for the few

or the rich or elite.

But we cannot afford this attitude,

because the world is engaged
in a vital mission

to improve life for everyone.

Our road map for this mission comes
from the 17 Sustainable Development Goals

of the United Nations.

All the member states
of the United Nations have agreed

that these are priorities
between now and 2030.

These goals give us our key moments
and opportunities of our time --

opportunities to end extreme poverty,

to insure that everyone has access
to food and clean water.

We must pursue these goals
as a global community.

And technology from space
supports sustainable development.

In fact, there are six space services

that can help us pursue
the Sustainable Development Goals.

Over the next few minutes,
let's explore these six services,

and see examples of just a few
of the goals they help support.

You ready?

OK.

Communication satellites provide access
to phone and internet service

to almost any location on Earth.

This is particularly important
during times of disaster recovery.

When Typhoon Haiyan
struck the Philippines,

the local communication networks
needed to be repaired,

and teams brought in inflatable
communication antennas

that could link to satellites.

This was useful during the time
of repair and recovery.

Positioning satellites
tell us where we are

by telling us where they are.

Scientists can use this technology
to track endangered wildlife.

This turtle has been fitted with a system

that allows it to receive location
information from positioning satellites,

and they send the location
information to scientists

via communication satellites.

Scientists can use this knowledge
to then make better policies

and help determine
how to keep these animals alive.

Earth observation satellites.

They tell us what's going on
in our environment.

Right now, there are about 150 satellites

operated by over 60 government agencies,

and these are just
those observing the Earth.

And meanwhile, companies
are adding to this list.

Most of the governments provide the data
from the satellites for free online.

Some of these satellites
provide images like this,

that show what you would see
from a camera.

This is an image showing
agricultural land in Kansas.

However, the majority
of the Earth observation satellites

don't take pictures at all.

They take measurements.

And they combine these measurements
with complex computer models

and make beautiful,
global visualizations such as this one,

showing the ocean currents

and the temperature
of the ocean, globally.

Or we can look at the salt and smoke
and dust in the atmosphere,

or the rainfall and snowfall, globally,

as well as the annual cycle of vegetation
on land and in the ocean.

Now, scientists can take this information
about the rainfall and the vegetation

and use it to understand

what areas on Earth are in danger
of a famine or a drought

and provide that information
to aid organizations

so they can be prepared with food aid
before the hunger becomes severe.

In space, we have an orbiting laboratory
on the International Space Station.

The vehicle and everything inside
are in a form of free fall

around the Earth,

and they don't experience
the effect of gravity.

And because of this,
we call it "microgravity."

When astronauts are
in the microgravity environment,

their bodies react
as if they're aging rapidly.

Their bones and muscles weaken,

and their cardiovascular system
and their immune system change.

As scientists study how to keep
astronauts healthy in space,

we can take the exercises and techniques
we use for astronauts

and transfer them to people on Earth

to improve our health here.

Often, as we develop technology
for astronauts and exploration

or for spacecraft,

we can also transfer those inventions
to improve life on Earth.

Here's one of my favorites.

It's a water filtration system,

and a key component of it
is based on the technology

to filter wastewater on the space station.

It's now being used around the world.

Space is also an infinite source
of inspiration,

through education,

through research and astronomy

and that age-old experience of stargazing.

Now, countries around the world
are engaging in advancing

their own development

by increasing their local knowledge
of engineering and science and space.

Let's meet some of the world's
newest satellite engineers.

This is Elyka Abello, from Venezuela.

Elyka is training as a satellite engineer

as part of her national
satellite program in Venezuela.

She has designed a software tool

that allows her team to better design
the power systems for engineering.

This is Adel Castillo-Duran,

from the Philippines.

Adel is both a meteorologist
and a satellite engineer,

and she uses data from satellites
in her weather forecasting.

And finally, meet Hala.

Hala is from the Sudan,

and as she was studying electrical
engineering as an undergraduate

in Khartoum,

she and several students decided
to build their own satellite.

And later, Hala earned a scholarship
to study satellite engineering

at the graduate level.

These stories that I've shared with you

all illustrate that space truly is useful
for sustainable development

for the benefit of all peoples.

But we have more work to do,

because there are still barriers
that exclude people from space

and limit the impact of this technology.

For many people,
Earth observation data is complex.

And satellite communication
services are too expensive.

And microgravity research
just appears to be inaccessible.

This is what motivates my work
as a professor at MIT's Media Lab.

I've recently founded a new research group
called Space Enabled.

We are working to tear down these barriers
that limit the benefits of space.

And we're also going to develop
the future applications

that will continue to contribute
to sustainable development.

We'll keep on this work

until we can truly say that space
is for the benefit of all peoples,

and we are all space enabled.

Thank you.

(Applause)