Answer to Question #179579 in History for will

Question

explain how scientific discoveries like satellite communications affected economic development

Answer 1

Satellites have offered great benefits for ordinary people, too. Civilians now depend on spacecraft to get weather forecasts.

Satellites have also changed how we see the world around us, quite literally. The corporate world entered space when Syncom 3 caused a sensation with its live broadcasts of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Before that, your grandparents waited three weeks for newsreels to be flown to Hollywood to have the film developed, duplicated, then flown to cinemas around the world.

Digital processing of images and other data now constitute the most lucrative ground segment of the space industry; that is, jobs on the ground, not in orbit. The information from this processing also helps with disaster recovery: authorities can ascertain the extent of hurricane, flood or fire damage; they can also see where roads are blocked by mudslides.

Satellite farming is another valuable tool. It comprises satellites which send SMSes to subscribers alerting them to which orchards are too dry and any that are too wet, so they may adjust their irrigation. And satellites allow us to peer back into the distant past. Archaeologists have used satellite imagery to locate ancient towns buried beneath sand dunes and tropical forests.