- Image via Wikipedia
Aerospace technology, with the help of computers, has benefited humankind in ways other than in areas of space exploration, for decades.
NASA researches use a system for problem solving that now includes the reunion of people, material, and money, using computers.
One illustration of the benefits to people in general is the research in the aerospace industry conducted on Highway Safety.
Originally intended for aircraft safety, researchers discovered that by cutting slight grooves across concrete highways reduced the risk of hydroplaning.
Hydroplaning occurs when water builds up between the tires and the road, and is responsible for the loss of traction and creates problems with steering, braking and with accelerating.
Cutting thing grooves in concrete highways creates conduits for excess water to drain into, improved aircraft’s tire friction performance by up to 300 percent.
On highways, this procedure contributed to an 85 percent reduction in highway accidents.
This research at NASA began in the 1960′s, and continued due to the distinctive landing requirements of the Space Shuttle.
Equipped with safety grooving in the middle, the runway used in Space Shuttle landings at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, optimizes wet friction performance to reduce wear of tires.
Inducted into The US Space Foundation’s Technology Hall of Fame in 1990, this groovy highway technology proved to be an important practical application of aerospace research.
Aerospace research and technology has solved many other problems for the public, which have nothing to do with space travel.
These benefits include gains in medical research including cancer research, crime prevention, and detection, anti-pollution solutions, and in other areas of safety in addition to transportation.
For instance, the FDA acknowledges NASA’s wide-ranging food safety program, the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point originally developed for the US Astronauts, as the accepted practice for food safety.
