Communications of the ACM

Anonymous

KISS: How about a simple list, a list numbered from 1 to 100 of the top 100 NASA inventions most used around the world, a list that runs right on your present front left side of your page, a page that is quickly downloaded even in the simplest computers that just happen to be owned by 90% of the world! PS: Everyday thankful for the great progress that NASA has offered mankind with their many inventions from saving lives remembering that in 1900 over 6,000 lives were lost during a hurricane in Galveston, Texas and that in the very same place in 2008 during hurricane Ike less than 20 lives were lost, thanks due to the warnings of NASA's earth orbiting weather satellites! Everyday thankful for the many, many NASA medical related technological inventions such as those used around the world in kidney dialysis, heart pacemakers, improvements made by NASA in cat scan imaging allowing us a clearer view inside of the human body thus avoiding unnecessary surgeries, possible infections and further complications. Thankful everyday for the explosion in communications that would make the French science fiction writer Jules Verne sit in incredulous amazement seeing that his fantastic dreams
have all become reality, seeing NASA's technological successes of earth orbiting satellites providing instant world wide communications using voice, world wide dual voice and television communication allowing us to see our children and families from thousands of miles away, send and receive faxes, documents, pictures, television programming with every kind of entertainment, world wide earth imaging that helps improve agriculture, keep track of land development,water and wild life conservation. NASA's technological developments and satellites make possible instant world wide currency, stock, commodity exchanges, ships navigate around the world in good and bad weather. NASA satellites keep track of world wide ocean temperatures, currents, and plankton. NASA satellites help us with directions while just driving around a city or in dire emergencies helping us to find the nearest hospital (GPS). Because of NASA we now have new technologies of lighter and stronger metals, we now have different plastics that are used everyday from zip bags to foam matresses! It is truly a rare situation where scientists from so many different major disciplines work together on a project: mathematicians, electrical, mechanical, petroleum engineers, astronomers, chemists, physicists, biologists and so many other types of highly trained professionals. Personally believe that it is much due to NASA's many technological and communication developments that we have we now live in a much smaller world, and strongly believe that as many changes as we have had just in the past 50 years we are just living within the infancy of technological change, changes that not only will continue to affect peoples lives, the ways we communicate with each other but more important believe we are about to experience the largest changes in the way people live and which forms of government people will choose to live under. I think, think hard of where I would be without the technological advances of NASA, I know for sure where I would be....do you know where you would be? From: "Zancudo Mine" Titiribi, Colombia