NOVA Systems - Industry Insight: Autonomous Operations
Space and Earth – Cross Sector Collaboration Enabling Excellence in Autonomous Operations
Author: Jason Coleman, Systems Engineer
Even before the ‘Space Race’ burst into the public’s imagination in 1957 with the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1, Space has been a driver for innovation. Kicked off after World War II during the Cold War superpower competition, the race generated unprecedented technology advancements that still echo in our quality of life today. Indeed, in 2016 NASA identified over 2,000 so-called ‘spinoff’ technologies in the fields of computer technology, environment and agriculture, health and medicine, public safety, transportation, recreation, and industrial productivity. How many of these spinoffs were envisioned as outcomes of the race?
Half a century later, with the announcement of several international space programs including the ARTEMIS program and the Moon to Mars initiatives, and with the increasing talk of commercialising space for mining, medicine and tourism, you could be forgiven for thinking we are amid a new Space era. Statements like this would support your conclusion: in 2019, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced, “I know NASA is ready for the challenge of moving forward to the Moon, this time to stay.”