Covering Disruptive Technology Powering Business in The Digital Age

Written by: Rogelio Legaspi, Journalist, AOPG

Looking at the space missions in everyday news may seem simple at first but the technologies that take people beyond Earth’s gravitational pull is far from easy. The technological advancements being developed behind the scenes are not only relevant to space exploration, however, as it also signifies growth for the future of the world.

This is what Chris Hadfield, former Colonel and astronaut, talked about in his session during the virtual Kofax Accelerate 2021 event. For him, some of the ideas that we incorporate in space exploration around us right now might be applicable to everybody all around the world, from individuals up to enterprises.

“Because of technologies, of automation, of all the things we’ve invented from GPS for positioning, high-speed computing on board of sensors to the understanding of hypersonic or aerodynamics, we now can enable exploration to the Moon, Mars and beyond,” Chris explained.

For example, just recently, NASA was able to deliver another rover to Mars called Perseverance. Not only that but the agency also saw the first powered controlled flight by an aircraft on a planet besides Earth in the form of the Ingenuity helicopter. All this because of technologies that enabled automation on the said spacecraft far from the control of humans on Earth.

Another progress in technology mentioned by Chris is that we radically changed how we are getting to space, which, according to him, might be the biggest technological advance of the last decade. This is because we can now reuse entire rockets, which reduces the cost dramatically to another factor of 10, and current space missions are already 28 times cheaper than before.

With such technology, NASA is planning to send another batch of humans to the Moon, specifically, with SpaceX’s Artemis lunar lander. “It’s an amazing possibility enabled by our willingness to visualise something that doesn’t exist, develop the technologies and then just allow them to accelerate us into a future that didn’t use to be there,” added Chris.

As for human settlement on the moon, Chris believes that it is possible – looking at the potential water source deep in the lunar craters, the ability to harness solar power and the advancements of vehicles that deliver humans in space. For Chris, this is because it is in our nature to invent technologies that really matter in improving the quality of life, for as many people as possible, in a sustainable way.

“Technology’s role is to accelerate us to tomorrow and the things it has done to get us to where we are today are already incredible. It is enabling us to address the global problems that face us, and it is going to continue to accelerate us into the tomorrow that we want for our customers,” ended Chris.

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