Space Station: Benefits for Humanity

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Benefits for Humanity: Found at Sea

In the first installment of the International Space Station Benefits for Humanity video series, NASA showed how the station’s water purification technology is used to provide clean, safe water to an area plagued by a contaminated drinking source. We also met doctors who use a transformative tool in neurosurgery adapted from the station’s complex robotic arm, and we introduced the next generation of explorers inspired to learn more because of a virtual connection to the astronauts living and working in space.

Now, join us on the high seas of the frigid Atlantic for a glimpse at how technology aboard the space station is working to make travel on the oceans of the world a safer place.

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ISS Benefits for Humanity: Found at Sea

The Vessel-ID System investigation on the International Space Station demonstrated the ability for a space-based radio receiver to track a ship’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal, the marine equivalent of the air traffic control system. Since being turned on in 2010, Vessel-ID has been able to relay more than 400,000 ship position reports from more than 22,000 ships in a single day, proving a quantum leap in the ship tracking ability of coast guards around the world. This ability, coupled with multiple AIS tracking satellites launched since, is already making travel among the waves safer for thousands of ships around the globe. The ship identification and tracking system technology already aided in orienting rescue services for a lone survivor stranded in the North Sea, giving new hope to once impossible situations.

For more information: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/750.html

Credit: NASA

Source: NASA - Multimedia