0:00:00.810,0:00:04.722
I was 17 when I chose my career.

0:00:05.587,0:00:07.976
I was standing outside

0:00:08.000,0:00:10.277
on a hot summer night in Florida

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

0:00:14.728,0:00:18.125
I was waiting for a miracle to happen.

0:00:19.540,0:00:23.362
That summer, I was privileged[br]to work as an intern

0:00:23.386,0:00:25.269
at NASA's Kennedy Space Center,

0:00:25.919,0:00:28.180
and the miracle I was waiting for

0:00:28.204,0:00:31.725
was the launch[br]of the Columbia Space Shuttle

0:00:31.749,0:00:34.902
carrying the Chandra X-Ray Observatory,

0:00:35.486,0:00:41.818
a telescope that would allow scientists[br]to peer into the edge of black holes.

0:00:42.712,0:00:45.717
The entire sky filled with light.

0:00:46.998,0:00:50.270
And it was as if it was daytime[br]in the middle of the night.

0:00:51.149,0:00:54.994
Soon, we could feel the rumble[br]of the engines vibrating in our chests.

0:00:56.003,0:00:57.584
And it wasn't a miracle;

0:00:58.316,0:01:02.333
it was the combined effort[br]of a team of thousands of people

0:01:02.357,0:01:03.648
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.

0:01:12.872,0:01:17.167
So I decided to apply to a university[br]where I could study aerospace engineering.

0:01:17.644,0:01:18.984
And the following year,

0:01:19.008,0:01:21.572
I started at MIT[br]in my engineering training

0:01:21.596,0:01:24.338
and joined a student project[br]building space robots.

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And everything was going as I planned,

0:01:27.841,0:01:32.479
except I was confused[br]about something important.

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Now, my confusion arose[br]in my summer breaks.

0:01:37.474,0:01:40.242
I traveled to a school in Kenya,

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and there I volunteered[br]with girls ages five to 17,

0:01:45.583,0:01:50.268
giving them lessons in English[br]and math and science.

0:01:51.143,0:01:53.901
And they taught me songs in Swahili.

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

0:01:58.868,0:02:00.125
enjoying their presence.

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

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they were overcoming important barriers

0:02:07.802,0:02:11.639
to allow these girls to have[br]the best possible chances in life.

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And I wanted to join that team.

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

0:02:20.012,0:02:22.581
and improve the lives[br]of girls around the world.

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But I was worried that studying[br]aerospace engineering

0:02:25.697,0:02:27.178
wasn't the most useful.

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

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I was learning about space.

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

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I came back and interned at NASA again,

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and this time,

0:02:41.022,0:02:42.847
a mentor taught me

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that countries like Kenya had been using[br]space technology for decades

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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

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and in development.

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This idea is not new.

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In fact, in 1967, the nations[br]of the world came together

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to write the Outer Space Treaty.

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This treaty made a bold statement,

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saying, "The exploration[br]and use of outer space

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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."

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We have not truly lived up to this ideal,

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

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Forces such as colonialism and racism

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and gender inequality

0:03:38.260,0:03:41.785
have actually excluded many people[br]from the benefits of space

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and caused us to believe[br]that space is for the few

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or the rich or elite.

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But we cannot afford this attitude,

0:03:52.209,0:03:55.340
because the world is engaged[br]in a vital mission

0:03:55.364,0:03:57.368
to improve life for everyone.

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

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

0:04:05.808,0:04:08.507
All the member states[br]of the United Nations have agreed

0:04:08.531,0:04:11.837
that these are priorities[br]between now and 2030.

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

0:04:18.323,0:04:21.294
opportunities to end extreme poverty,

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to insure that everyone has access[br]to food and clean water.

0:04:27.720,0:04:30.996
We must pursue these goals[br]as a global community.

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And technology from space[br]supports sustainable development.

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In fact, there are six space services

0:04:39.934,0:04:43.727
that can help us pursue[br]the Sustainable Development Goals.

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

0:04:47.986,0:04:51.505
and see examples of just a few[br]of the goals they help support.

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You ready?

0:04:53.104,0:04:54.262
OK.

0:04:54.286,0:04:58.479
Communication satellites 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.

0:05:04.523,0:05:08.041
When Typhoon Haiyan[br]struck the Philippines,

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

0:05:10.863,0:05:14.171
and teams brought in inflatable[br]communication antennas

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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 endangered wildlife.

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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[br]information to scientists

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via communication satellites.

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

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and help determine[br]how 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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Right now, there are about 150 satellites

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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 would see[br]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,[br]global visualizations such as this one,

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showing the ocean currents

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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

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and use it to understand

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

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and provide that information[br]to aid organizations

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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 free fall

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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[br]in 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,

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and their cardiovascular 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 and techniques[br]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

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or for spacecraft,

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

0:08:05.837,0:08:07.171
Here's one of my favorites.

0:08:07.195,0:08:08.951
It's a water filtration system,

0:08:08.975,0:08:11.998
and a key component of it[br]is based on the technology

0:08:12.022,0:08:14.085
to filter wastewater on the space station.

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It's now being used around the world.

0:08:16.795,0:08:20.213
Space is also an infinite source[br]of inspiration,

0:08:20.237,0:08:21.418
through education,

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through research and astronomy

0:08:23.100,0:08:26.232
and that age-old experience of stargazing.

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Now, countries around the world[br]are engaging in advancing

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their own development

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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

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as part of her national[br]satellite program in Venezuela.

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She has designed a software tool

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

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This is Adel Castillo-Duran,

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from the Philippines.

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

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and she uses data from satellites[br]in her weather forecasting.

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And finally, meet Hala.

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Hala is from the Sudan,

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and as she was studying electrical[br]engineering as an undergraduate

0:09:17.614,0:09:18.773
in Khartoum,

0:09:18.797,0:09:21.953
she and several students decided[br]to build their own satellite.

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And later, Hala earned a scholarship[br]to study satellite engineering

0:09:26.375,0:09:27.691
at the graduate level.

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These stories that I've shared with you

0:09:31.391,0:09:35.504
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,

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because there are still barriers[br]that exclude people from space

0:09:44.241,0:09:46.384
and limit the impact of this technology.

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For many people,[br]Earth observation data is complex.

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And satellite communication[br]services are too expensive.

0:09:54.966,0:09:58.441
And microgravity research[br]just appears to be inaccessible.

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

0:10:04.840,0:10:09.995
I've recently founded a new research group[br]called Space Enabled.

0:10:10.829,0:10:15.168
We are working to tear down these barriers[br]that limit the benefits of space.

0:10:15.699,0:10:18.347
And we're also going to develop[br]the future applications

0:10:18.371,0:10:21.651
that will continue to contribute[br]to sustainable development.

0:10:22.533,0:10:24.141
We'll keep on this work

0:10:24.165,0:10:28.341
until we can truly say that space[br]is for the benefit of all peoples,

0:10:28.834,0:10:31.972
and we are all space enabled.

0:10:32.815,0:10:33.974
Thank you.

0:10:33.998,0:10:36.624
(Applause)