5 breakthroughs International Space Station has had since launch
The International Space Station has immensly contributed to space research for the past 24 years and will be shutting down in a few years. After completing its transition plan in 2030, the modular space station will be crashed into a remote part of the Pacific Ocean known as Point Nemo. Point Nemo is famous for the extreme lack of human activity in the area. The Point is about 2,700 kilometers away from the nearest landmass, Ducie Island.
Point Nemo, also known as Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility or as NASA calls it, Spacecraft Cemetery, is a popular site for the de-orbiting of satellites and space stations. In a press release, NASA clarified that in the next 8 years, the International Space Station will continue to provide humanity the benefits it has but also transition to becoming more 'commercial'.
Phil McAlister, director of commercial space at NASA Headquarters explained, "The private sector is technically and financially capable of developing and operating commercial low-Earth orbit destinations, with NASA’s assistance. We look forward to sharing our lessons learned and operations experience with the private sector to help them develop safe, reliable, and cost-effective destinations in space."
The Space Station cannot only be credited to contributing to space research but also to improving human life. In almost 30 years of functioning, the International Space Station has enhanced our standard of living too.
Here are some of the biggest breakthroughs the International Space Station has had since its launch in November 1998:
1. FIGHT AGAINST DISEASES
Over the years, the International Space Station has essentially acted as a laboratory for research on human diseases, particularly Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer, asthma, heart diseases. Without the interference of Earth's gravity, microgravity research has allowed Alzheimer's researchers to understand the protein clusters that cause neurodegenerative diseases.
Cancer researchers have also beeen able to make strides by being able to study the growth of endothelial cells. These cells are responsible for supplying blood in the body and cancer tumours need blood to grow. The cells that have been grown in the Space Station are far healthier than the ones grown on earth, allowing researchers to study them better.
2. PROTECTION FROM NATURAL DISASTERS
The International Space Station has kept a watchful eye over the Earth's enviornmental issues. Regarded as a global observation and diagnosis station, the Space Station has been critical in understanding, preventing and resolving natural disasters and enviornmental issues.
The Space Station is present in an inclined, low-Earth orbit, which provides it with multiple view points and angles over more than 90% of Earth's landmasses. By using its one-of-a-kind crew-operated and automated Earth-observation 'payloads', the Space Station is able to collect data on environmental change and natural disasters.
Here is a clip of the views the International Space Station captured of Hurricane Harvey in 2017:
3. WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEMS
Many inhabited areas on Earth still do not receive drinkable water. The Space Station was able to develop a new water filtiration system known as the Water Recovery System. The System filters out the Station’s water and is successfully able to recycle 93% of the water used. Not only has this been groundbreaking but also is ecologically sustainable.
The technology behind the Water Recovery System has been licensed to use in Earth-based water treatment systems and was first installed in Iraq in 2006.
4. RESEARCHING THE 5TH STATE OF MATTER
Scientists on Earth were able to discover the 5th state of matter, in June 1995, known as Bose-Einstein condensate. The properties of the Bose-Einstein condensate significantly varied from those of the other 4: solids, liquids, gas and plasma therefore making it difficult for the state of matter to be researched. In 2018, NASA set up a Cold Atom Lab in the Space Station which could produce the Bose-Einstein condensate.
The lab is able to lower the temperature of atoms to ultra-cold in order to study their properties that was originally not possible on Earth. The Bose-Einstein condensate is an important area of research to scientists that work in quantum physics and its study is known to provide insight into the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics.
5. ACCESS TO ORBITING LABORATORY
The Space Station has provided opportunities to students of all age groups to understand space and access a microgravity envionment. The intention to create numerous programmes to capture the interest of students is to motivate them to study Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
Programmes such as Amateur Radio on International Space Station and Take your Classroom into Space have allowed students public access to space through image acquisition and radio conversations with crew members onboard the Space Station.