Plasma TVs, orthopedic matrasses, detailed weather forecasts, thermal underwear, jet fuel, frost-free refrigerators - these are only a few things which emerged thanks to several decades of space exploration.

October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I, the world's first artificial satellite, marks the beginning of the satellite era. From that very moment mankind began the transition to wireless communication.

The results of this transition today are satellite TV, telephony, the Internet. Satellites help scientists study earth processes in detail. For example, they can observe the distribution of air masses. The importance of this aspect became especially evident in 2010, when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted in Iceland, the head of the Institute of Space Studies Lev Zeleny says.

"The ash cloud moved toward Europe. Flights were suspended and nobody knew exactly where the cloud's danger zone was. Satellite measurements enabled scientists to estimate the size of the cloud, to see its course and to determine what zones were dangerous for flights and what zones were safe."

All ships and planes have satellite contacts and in case of a disaster crews can send SOS signals to their control centers using satellite connection. Land transport also widely uses satellite navigation systems and their application range gets wider every year, Alexander Gurko, president of the GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) non-commercial partnership, says.

"Global Navigation Satellite Systems have become widespread in many fields. Construction companies used it to check how the terms of contracts are observed. It is also applied in geodesic studies and for making of land cadaster maps."

Space developments have also found application in medicine, Zeleny says.

"Living on the ISS implies limitations in space and motions. These factors required the development of special medical facilities, trainer simulators, medicines and clothes. All these things turned to be useful for handicapped people and people with circulatory failures."

Recently, the Russian space agency has ordered the experts at the Space technologies cluster at the Skolkovo innovation center to design robots which will work in space, the cluster's executive director Sergey Zhukov says.

"The area of robots' application in space is huge. These can be robots that help cosmonauts to perform their technical tasks on the ISS, but also robots are capable of flying to a geostationary orbit and repairing a geostationary satellite. In the long term these robots will be able to work on the Moon."

It is difficult to predict whether space robots will find an application on Earth. However some time ago no one could imagine that the silver ion technology for water purification which was developed especially for the ISS would become so popular on Earth and practically every household would have water filters.

Source: Voice of Russia