This picture is one of the first colour images from NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity which successfully touched down on the red planet’s surface in August 2012. It’s not going to win any photography prizes but the fact it exists at all is testament to decades of tireless work by scientists around the world.
What has space exploration got to do with health?
Since its inception in 1958, NASA has been charged with sharing information about its discoveries and helping companies turn them into commercial products. One of the sectors which has benefited most over the decades has been healthcare – here are just a handful of examples:
- The need to enhance pictures of the moon led to advances in digital image processing which in turn improved MRI and CAT scans
- The space shuttle’s fuel pumps inspired the Left Ventricular Assist Device which helps patients waiting for heart transplants to remain stable until a donor is found
- Technology for servicing spacecraft in orbit was turned into mechanical arms for complex keyhole surgery
- Fluid physics experiments in space stimulated researchers to develop a new way to spot cataracts early and this technique is now being adapted to detect other eye conditions, diabetes and Alzheimer’s
- Liquid-cooled spacesuits have been refined for use in treating multiple sclerosis and spinal trauma
- Using similar techniques to those for measuring the temperature of stars, a private company worked with NASA to develop an in-ear thermometer for newborns
From cochlear implants to heart bypasses, research breakthroughs in space exploration have fed through to patients and clinicians in exciting and often unexpected ways. Whatever Curiosity might find as it trundles slowly across the Martian landscape, it’s certain to provide insights that go beyond astrophysics. And that’s something the current UK government would agree with: David Willetts recently reiterated his belief that “even the purest blue sky research is likely to end up with practical impact, though nobody can predict what that will be in advance.”
Curiosity has a special resonance for us: it’s one of our three core values, alongside Confidence and Collaboration. Just like the Mars rover, it’s about always looking for more and never being satisfied that we have all the answers. Working with us, you might find yourself meeting a deep sea diver in full costume to think differently about asthma or visiting TomTom’s Amsterdam HQ to gain a fresh perspective on user-friendly devices.