In the 21st century space exploration has been a crucial part in understanding our world as it is and developing it to make it safer for all organisms to survive. Space exploration has many benefits to us as humans living on earth as many of the inventions that are invented for use in space can be adapted to improve our earth. One example is light emitting diodes (LED’S). The advantages of LED’s are that they are energy efficient, have a long life span, they are compact in size and are safer (LED Lighting, n.d.). While there are many advantages of LEDS there are also many disadvantages including that they are expensive and their performance largely depends on them being engineered correctly. (Continental Inc, n.d.)
LED lights are energy efficient long lasting devices that emit a bright infra-red light. LED’s use semi-conductors and electroluminescence to create a bright light of various colours. LED’s are most often made out of the compound gallium arsenide. The lights can change the brightness that they emit and the colour they emit by varying the composition of the wavelength. (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2016)
In space LED lights are used for growing food during deep space exploration missions. LED lights can be used to grow vegetables such as red lettuces and radishes that have a high nutritional quality. This was a large scientific breakthrough for the space community as it meant that deep space missions would be able to go for longer and travel further into space as the astronauts would not need food supplies to be sent to them. LED’s were also used for deep space exploration because of their long life spance and durability as the light would be able to withstand going deep into space for a very long time. Scientists also found that the plants grew better under a LED light compared to white fluorescent lights. The results from the experiment that they conducted to see which plants would grow to a higher nutritional standard showed that when a vegetable was grown under an LED light it would have a darker fuller colour and a higher chlorophyll content. When the food was grown under a LED light is also showed a higher concentration of specific antioxidants that have been proven to help combat some effects of cosmic radiation. Scientists also discovered that they could change the brightness of the light to give the vegetable different nutritional benefits so the astronauts would be able to have a balanced nutritional diet. (Herridge, 2012)
On Earth LED lights have been adapted for use in many everyday social, environmental, medical and economic projects. LED lights can be used medically as a cancer treatment. The LED light are mainly used in treating skin and brain cancers. The LED light in this procedure is used in lieu of a laser. The medical community is trying to distance themselves from using the lasers as they are very expensive, bulky and can be unreliable in a surgical environment. (Space Foundation, 2000)
On earth LED lights are also used as a more energy efficient form of lighting. LED’s are used in many everyday household items. They are a very energy efficient form of lighting and have a very long lifespan. They are energy efficient because LED’s use at least 75% less energy than incandescent lighting. (Energy.Gov, n.d.)LED lights can be found in many household objects including car lights, remote controls, flash lights, house lights and many others. (Earth Easy, n.d.)
There are many advantages in our community in the technological advancements that have been made in LED lights. Led lights have allowed our Earth to become more energy efficient. They have also contributed to our medical advancements. The LED lights are energy efficient eco-friendly because they are free of toxic chemicals are renewable, have a long life span, use less energy than luminescents and can run under low voltage power supplies. (LED Luxor, 2012)
However there are also many disadvantages to LED lights such as being more expensive, the materials are harder to find and produce. LED lights are more expensive than other lights and cost a lot more to have produced but they are actually cheaper over time as because of the long lifespan the buyer does not have to buy replacements as often meaning it costs less. (Continental Inc, n.d.) The main material compound that LED lights is gallium (Ga). Gallium is a metal element that is formed by electrolysis of a solution of potassium hydroxide. Gallium can also be found in traces of rocks and minerals within the Earth’s crust, but this is not Gallium in its elemental form. The problem with forming the Gallium is that electrolysis is a very expensive procedure and uses a lot of energy. Because it uses so much energy it means that it makes the LED light’s energy efficient light much less energy efficient as it uses so much energy for the light to become produced. But in comparison with the amount of energy that other lights such as iridescent use LED lights are still comparatively more energy efficient.
(Live Science, 2013)
When you consider all of the advantages and disadvantages associated with space exploration and the development of LED lights it is apparent that the benefits of LED technology for the world are significant. Given the issues associated with using nonrenewable resources to produce light, the benefits of energy efficient LED lights mean that the demands for lighting are far more sustainable throughout the world. In a medical environment the use of LED lights in lieu of lasers is resulting in far more effective surgeries and treatments without harmful side effects.
The development of LED lights from space exploration suggests that far more can be achieved in the future from further space expeditions. While space exploration is expensive, the development of new technologies like LED lights justifies the expense.