0:00:00.858,0:00:04.656
I was 17 when I chose my career.

0:00:05.617,0:00:08.000
I was standing outside

0:00:08.000,0:00:11.238
on a hot summer night in Florida,

0:00:11.238,0:00:13.565
and just a few miles from the ocean.

0:00:14.798,0:00:18.195
I was waiting for a miracle to happen.

0:00:19.540,0:00:23.386
That summer I was privileged[br]to work as an intern

0:00:23.386,0:00:25.998
at NASA's Kennedy Space Center,

0:00:25.998,0:00:28.282
and the miracle I was waiting for

0:00:28.282,0:00:31.826
was the launch[br]of the Columbia Space Shuttle,

0:00:31.826,0:00:35.486
carrying the Chandra X-Ray Observatory,

0:00:35.486,0:00:41.667
a telescope that would allow scientists[br]to peer into the edge of black holes.

0:00:42.841,0:00:45.755
The entire sky filled with light.

0:00:47.078,0:00:50.277
And it was as if it was daytime[br]in the middle of the night.

0:00:51.149,0:00:54.880
Soon, we could feel the rumble[br]of the engines vibrating in our chests.

0:00:56.003,0:00:58.406
And it wasn't a miracle;

0:00:58.406,0:01:02.357
it was the combined effort[br]of a team of thousands of people

0:01:02.357,0:01:03.672
who worked together

0:01:03.672,0:01:06.956
to make was seemed impossible a reality.

0:01:07.991,0:01:11.720
And I wanted to join that team.

0:01:12.872,0:01:17.658
So I decided to apply to a university[br]where I could study aerospace engineering,

0:01:17.658,0:01:19.008
and the following year,

0:01:19.008,0:01:21.718
I started at MIT[br]in my engineering training

0:01:21.718,0:01:24.460
and joined a student project[br]building space robots.

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And everything was going as I planned,

0:01:27.871,0:01:32.509
except I was confused[br]about something important.

0:01:33.768,0:01:36.781
Now, my confusion arose[br]in my summer breaks.

0:01:37.534,0:01:40.915
I traveled to a school in Kenya,

0:01:40.915,0:01:45.583
and there I volunteered[br]with girls ages five to 17,

0:01:45.583,0:01:50.478
giving them lessons in English[br]and math and science.

0:01:51.193,0:01:53.835
And they taught me songs in Swahili.

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

0:01:58.907,0:02:00.340
enjoying their presence.

0:02:00.804,0:02:03.225
And I saw that these girls,

0:02:03.225,0:02:04.942
and the leaders in their community,

0:02:04.942,0:02:07.871
they were overcoming important barriers

0:02:07.871,0:02:12.695
to allow these girls to have[br]the best possible chances in life ...

0:02:12.695,0:02:16.443
and I wanted to join that team.

0:02:16.931,0:02:20.012
I wanted to be part of a team[br]that would help break down barriers

0:02:20.012,0:02:22.696
and improve the lives[br]of girls around the world,

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but I was worried that studying[br]aerospace engineering

0:02:25.697,0:02:27.202
wasn't the most useful.

0:02:27.202,0:02:28.780
I was worried this team in Kenya

0:02:28.780,0:02:31.963
couldn't use the technology[br]I was learning about space.

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But thankfully, I still learned[br]that I was wrong.

0:02:37.527,0:02:39.967
I came back and interned at NASA again,

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and this time,

0:02:41.148,0:02:42.911
a mentor taught me

0:02:42.911,0:02:48.131
that countries like Kenya had been[br]involved using space technology

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for decades

0:02:49.248,0:02:51.357
to improve the lives[br]in their own countries.

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And then I knew that I could have[br]a career in space and in development.

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This idea is not new.

0:02:59.825,0:03:04.167
In fact, in 1967, the nations[br]of the world came together

0:03:04.167,0:03:06.822
to write the Outer Space Treaty.

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This treaty made a bold statement,

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saying that "the exploration[br]and use of outer space

0:03:14.525,0:03:18.732
should be carried on[br]for the benefit of all peoples,

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irrespective of their level[br]of economic or scientific development."

0:03:25.173,0:03:27.470
We have not truly lived up to this ideal,

0:03:27.470,0:03:30.689
although people have worked for decades[br]to make this a reality.

0:03:31.826,0:03:35.880
Forces such as colonialism and racism

0:03:35.880,0:03:38.260
and gender inequality

0:03:38.260,0:03:42.801
have actually excluded many people[br]from the benefits of space,

0:03:42.801,0:03:46.365
and caused us to believe[br]that space is for the few,

0:03:46.365,0:03:48.793
or the rich or elite.

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But we cannot afford this attitude,

0:03:52.327,0:03:55.481
because the world is engaged[br]in a vital mission

0:03:55.481,0:03:57.376
to improve life for everyone.

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Our roadmap for this mission comes from[br]the 17 Sustainable Development Goals

0:04:04.073,0:04:05.438
of the United Nations.

0:04:05.808,0:04:08.612
All the member states[br]of the United Nations have agreed

0:04:08.612,0:04:11.701
that these are priorities[br]between now and 2030.

0:04:12.605,0:04:18.453
These goals give us our key moments[br]and opportunities of our time --

0:04:18.453,0:04:21.447
opportunities to end extreme poverty,

0:04:21.447,0:04:25.862
to insure that everyone has access[br]to food and clean water.

0:04:27.815,0:04:31.861
We must pursue these goals[br]as a global community,

0:04:31.861,0:04:36.898
and technology from space[br]supports sustainable development,

0:04:36.898,0:04:40.030
and in fact there are six space services

0:04:40.030,0:04:43.823
that can help us pursue[br]the Sustainable Development Goals.

0:04:44.789,0:04:46.078
Over the next few minutes,

0:04:46.078,0:04:47.986
let's explore these six services,

0:04:47.986,0:04:51.529
and see examples of just a few[br]of the goals they help support.

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You ready?

0:04:53.234,0:04:54.227
OK.

0:04:54.227,0:04:58.503
Communication satelites provide access[br]to phone and internet service

0:04:58.503,0:05:00.241
to almost any location on earth.

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This is particularly important[br]during times of disaster recovery.

0:05:04.523,0:05:08.131
When Typhoon Haiyan[br]struck the Philippines,

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the local communication netwworks[br]needed to be repaired,

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and teams brought in inflatable[br]communication antennas

0:05:14.256,0:05:15.978
that could link to satellites.

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This was useful during the time[br]of repair and recovery.

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Positioning satellites[br]tell us where we are

0:05:22.807,0:05:24.663
by telling us where they are.

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Scientists can use this technology[br]to track endagered wildlife.

0:05:30.804,0:05:33.261
This turtle has been fitted with a system

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that allows it to receive location[br]information from positioning satellites,

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and they send the location information

0:05:40.051,0:05:42.270
to scientists via[br]communication satellites.

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Scientists can use this knowledge[br]to then make better policies

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and help determine how[br]to keep these animals alive.

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Earth observation satellites.

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

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Now right now,

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there are about 150 satellites[br]operated by over 60 government agencies,

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and these are just[br]those observing the earth.

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And meanwhile, companies[br]are adding to this list.

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

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Some of these satellites[br]provide images like this,

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that show what you[br]would see from a camera.

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This is an image showing[br]agricultural land in Kansas.

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However, the majority[br]of the earth observation satellites

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don't take pictures at all.

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They take measurements.

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And they combine these measurements[br]with complex computer models

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and make beautiful, global visualizations

0:06:32.779,0:06:33.877
such as this one,

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showing the ocean currents

0:06:35.807,0:06:37.831
and the temperature[br]of the ocean, globally.

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Or we can look at the salt and smoke[br]and dust in the atmosphere.

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Or the rainfall and snowfall, globally.

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As well as the annual cycle of vegetation[br]on land and in the ocean.

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

0:07:04.521,0:07:07.960
and use it to understand[br]what areas on earth are in danger

0:07:07.960,0:07:09.801
of a famine or a drought,

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and provide that information[br]to aid organizations

0:07:12.426,0:07:16.243
so they can be prepared with food aid[br]before the hunger becomes severe.

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

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The vehicle, and everything inside,[br]are in a form of freefall around the earth

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and they don't experience[br]the effect of gravity.

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And because of this,[br]we call it microgravity.

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When astronauts are in[br]the microgravity environment,

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their bodies react[br]as if they're aging rapidly.

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Their bones and muscles weaken,

0:07:42.328,0:07:45.779
and their cardiovascualar system[br]and their immune system change.

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As scientists study how to keep[br]astronauts healthy in space,

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we can take the exercises[br]and techniques we use for astronauts

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and transfer them to people on earth

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to improve our health here.

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Often as we develop technology[br]for astronauts and exploration,

0:08:01.098,0:08:02.391
or for spacecraft,

0:08:02.391,0:08:05.679
we can also tranfer those inventions[br]to improve life on earth.

0:08:05.837,0:08:07.247
Here's one of my favorites.

0:08:07.247,0:08:09.026
It's a water filtration system,

0:08:09.026,0:08:12.072
and a key component of it[br]is based on the technology

0:08:12.072,0:08:14.135
to filter wastewater on the space station.

0:08:14.439,0:08:16.324
It's now being used around the world.

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Space is also an infinite[br]source of inspiration,

0:08:20.313,0:08:21.517
through education,

0:08:21.517,0:08:23.174
through research and astronomy,

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and that age-old experience of stargazing.

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Now, countries around the world

0:08:28.632,0:08:31.467
are engaging in advancing[br]their own development

0:08:31.467,0:08:35.314
by increasing their local knowledge[br]of engineering, and science and space.

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

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This is Elyka Abello from Venezuela.

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Elyka is training as a satellite engineer

0:08:47.346,0:08:50.162
as part of her national[br]satellite program in Venezuela.

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She has designed a software tool

0:08:52.596,0:08:56.196
that allows her team to better design[br]the power systems for engineering.

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This is [Adele Castillo-Doran],

0:09:00.875,0:09:01.983
from the Philippines.

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Adele is both a meteorologist[br]and a satellite engineer,

0:09:05.580,0:09:08.956
and she uses data from satellites[br]in her weather forecasting.

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And finally, meet [Toula.]

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[Toula] is from the Sudan,

0:09:14.559,0:09:17.773
and as she was studying electrical[br]engineering as an undergraduate

0:09:17.773,0:09:19.039
in Khartoum,

0:09:19.039,0:09:21.977
she and several students decided[br]to build their own satellite.

0:09:21.977,0:09:24.900
And later, [Toula] earned a scholarship

0:09:24.900,0:09:27.638
to study satellite engineering[br]at the graduate level.

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These stories that I've shared with you

0:09:31.480,0:09:35.528
all illustrate that space truly is useful[br]for sustainable development

0:09:35.528,0:09:37.302
for the benefit of all peoples.

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But we have more work to do

0:09:40.487,0:09:44.305
because there are still barriers[br]that exclude people from space

0:09:44.305,0:09:46.448
and limit the impact of this technology.

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For many people,

0:09:48.594,0:09:50.997
earth observation data is complex.

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And satellite communication[br]services are too expensive.

0:09:54.966,0:09:58.280
And microgravity research[br]just appears to be inaccessible.

0:09:59.671,0:10:04.409
This is what motivates my work[br]as a professor at MIT's Media Lab.

0:10:04.871,0:10:09.995
I've recently founded a new research group[br]called Space Enabled.

0:10:10.829,0:10:15.699
We are working to tear down these barriers[br]that limit the benefits of space,

0:10:15.699,0:10:18.292
and we're also going to develop[br]the future applications

0:10:18.292,0:10:21.572
that will continue to contribute[br]to sustainable development.

0:10:22.533,0:10:24.316
We'll keep on this work

0:10:24.316,0:10:28.894
until we can truly say that space[br]is for the benefit of all peoples,

0:10:28.894,0:10:32.032
and we are all space enabled.

0:10:32.815,0:10:33.819
Thank you.

0:10:33.819,0:10:36.445
(Applause)