Ariel Ekblaw, a space architect, talks about how building in space can help solve big problems on Earth. She explains that self-assembling structures could create orbiting places for science and medicine. These places would use zero gravity to make new discoveries, showing how space exploration can directly benefit people here on our planet.
Why Space Matters for Earth
People often ask why we spend so much on space when there are so many issues on Earth. It’s a fair question. But space exploration isn’t just about new knowledge, even though that’s a big part of it. It also brings new ideas and technology back to Earth. For example, the Apollo program helped create modern computers, and the International Space Station (ISS) played a role in LASIK eye surgery. Now, new tech is coming that could allow life-saving biotech in orbit and even send energy from space.
Key Takeaways
- Space exploration has a history of leading to major breakthroughs on Earth.
- The cost of getting to space has dropped a lot, making it more accessible.
- New ways of building in space are needed because current methods are slow and risky.
- Self-assembling structures, like Tesserae, could make building in space faster and safer.
- Space environments can be used to make things, like medicines, that are hard to make on Earth.
- Space-based solar power could provide clean energy to Earth.
- The goal is to use space for heavy industry, letting Earth recover.
The Changing Face of Space Travel
Getting to space used to be incredibly expensive. Back in the NASA Shuttle days, it cost over $50,000 per kilogram. Now, with new rockets like SpaceX’s Starship, it’s under $200 per kilogram. This is a huge change, making space travel much more like shipping things around the world. But even with cheaper access, there’s a new problem: space isn’t big enough. The ISS is old and will be shut down soon. Building new things in space is slow and dangerous, often done by hand by astronauts. This method doesn’t work for building a lot of stuff. We need new ways to build in orbit to make more space available for everyone.
Building in Space: A New Approach
Nine years ago, Ariel Ekblaw started working on a solution. She looked at how things in nature, like plants, self-assemble. In zero gravity, forces like magnetism can easily bring large objects together. Her team at MIT and Aurelia Institute developed a system called Tesserae. This system uses special magnets to connect modular tiles, like space Legos. These tiles are packed flat for launch and then build themselves once they’re in orbit. This means astronauts don’t have to do risky spacewalks to build things. They’ve even tested this in space twice, with astronauts helping to test the system.
What We Can Do in Space
Once we have more space habitats, we can use the unique environment of microgravity to make things that are impossible to make on Earth. For example:
- Biotech Factories: In microgravity, protein crystals grow differently, and certain tissues grow better. This could lead to new ways to discover drugs and create therapies for diseases like Alzheimer’s or cancer. These treatments could be made in space and then brought back to Earth.
- Space-Based Solar Power: Further out, between Earth and the Sun, thousands of solar panels could self-assemble in orbit. These panels could capture unfiltered sunlight and beam it down to Earth, even at night. This would solve the problem of storing solar power and provide a lot of clean energy.
These are ways we can use space technology to help Earth. The idea is to move heavy industry off-world, allowing Earth to recover. This future is closer than you might think. With cheaper access to space and new building methods, we can expand humanity’s reach while still protecting our planet. We don’t have to choose between exploring space and taking care of Earth; we can do both.
