1 00:00:03,790 --> 00:00:06,905 DAISY: NASA has a bright idea... 2 00:00:06,906 --> 00:00:10,608 No... Not that old thing... That's better... 3 00:00:10,610 --> 00:00:14,445 See how NASA is developing LED lighting to make 4 00:00:14,446 --> 00:00:18,183 astronauts lives brighter in ways you'd never imagine. 5 00:00:18,185 --> 00:00:22,853 We'll shine a spot on the future of lighting... Next on Real World. 6 00:00:22,855 --> 00:00:26,495 ? [music] ? 7 00:00:31,043 --> 00:00:34,131 DAISY: NASA is developing next generation lighting 8 00:00:34,133 --> 00:00:37,235 technology for current and future missions. 9 00:00:37,236 --> 00:00:42,106 They're taking this, Light Emitting Diodes, to the next level. 10 00:00:42,108 --> 00:00:45,010 You may know it as LED lighting, and you can find a 11 00:00:45,011 --> 00:00:48,146 light just like this at your local hardware store. 12 00:00:48,148 --> 00:00:52,683 But this is the LED lighting assembly NASA has developed... 13 00:00:52,685 --> 00:00:57,421 and the first one has already been installed on the international space station. 14 00:00:57,423 --> 00:01:00,191 DR. TREVOR MURDOCH: We were tasked to produce a 15 00:01:00,193 --> 00:01:04,896 replacement for the general luminair assembly that is on the station. 16 00:01:04,898 --> 00:01:08,066 DAISY: Dr. Trevor Murdoch is a senior Engineer working 17 00:01:08,068 --> 00:01:10,635 with NASA for Bionetics Corporation. 18 00:01:10,636 --> 00:01:13,138 DR. MURDOCH: The GLAs are comprised of a fluorescent 19 00:01:13,140 --> 00:01:16,641 tube that basically lasts, if you’re lucky, for 12 months. 20 00:01:16,643 --> 00:01:20,878 So that’s a lot of uplift, up mass, and change out. 21 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:24,315 ROBERT SOLER: An incandescent light, basically has a 22 00:01:24,316 --> 00:01:28,120 filament, a little coil and you run current through it. 23 00:01:28,121 --> 00:01:32,123 DAISY: Robert Soler is a lighting engineer for Bionetics Corporation. 24 00:01:32,125 --> 00:01:35,160 ROBERT: That current heats up the coil and the coil starts 25 00:01:35,161 --> 00:01:38,430 radiating, so it starts lighting up. 26 00:01:38,431 --> 00:01:41,231 All that is still heat that’s doing it. There’s only a 27 00:01:41,233 --> 00:01:44,601 small portion of that actual light that we can see, 28 00:01:44,603 --> 00:01:47,438 so the rest of it is just radiated heat. 29 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:51,810 An LED light will take properties of certain metals 30 00:01:51,811 --> 00:01:55,880 and it runs the current through them and it actually 31 00:01:55,881 --> 00:01:59,885 excites the difference in the metals basically 32 00:01:59,886 --> 00:02:03,121 produce the photons of light. It takes the properties of 33 00:02:03,123 --> 00:02:05,803 these two metals and turns that into light. 34 00:02:05,805 --> 00:02:09,660 DAISY: So Dr Murdock and his colleagues came up with the SSLM, 35 00:02:09,661 --> 00:02:12,330 the Solid State Lighting Module. 36 00:02:12,331 --> 00:02:14,733 This picture shows two units, 37 00:02:14,735 --> 00:02:18,003 the top with a diffuser, the bottom without. 38 00:02:18,005 --> 00:02:22,173 DR. MURDOCH: So with the Solid-State Lighting Module, what we do is we use LEDs, 39 00:02:22,175 --> 00:02:26,378 and it’s developed to be a unit that you can dim. 40 00:02:26,380 --> 00:02:29,613 It also, it straight forward interfaces into station so 41 00:02:29,615 --> 00:02:32,950 you can use the normal interfaces to turn it on and off. 42 00:02:32,951 --> 00:02:35,620 The main difference is it will last about ten years. 43 00:02:35,621 --> 00:02:39,123 That was developed here at KSC under NASA funds. 44 00:02:39,125 --> 00:02:43,628 We actually developed this in a period of about 7 months, from start to finish. 45 00:02:43,630 --> 00:02:47,231 Put it through testing. Currently, there’s one up on 46 00:02:47,233 --> 00:02:50,868 station and there’s others that are ready to go when they’re ready. 47 00:02:52,305 --> 00:02:55,606 DAISY: The LED system is a big winner for NASA. 48 00:02:55,608 --> 00:02:59,745 One SSLM will last as long as 10 GLAs. 49 00:02:59,746 --> 00:03:03,348 That means less maintenance, and less cost. 50 00:03:04,316 --> 00:03:07,351 What’s more, LEDs are more energy efficient than 51 00:03:07,353 --> 00:03:09,888 fluorescent and incandescent lights. 52 00:03:09,890 --> 00:03:13,325 Plus they have superior dimming capabilities. 53 00:03:13,326 --> 00:03:17,795 This NASA LED lighting will make space a brighter place. 54 00:03:17,796 --> 00:03:21,466 And this technology will benefit us here on Earth, too. 55 00:03:21,468 --> 00:03:24,301 DR. MURDOCH: We’re looking at the future here, in your houses, 56 00:03:24,303 --> 00:03:27,071 office buildings, you know, within the next five years, 57 00:03:27,073 --> 00:03:30,141 you’re going to see more LED use, we’re going to reduce 58 00:03:30,143 --> 00:03:33,378 the amount of electricity used, which cuts your green house gasses, 59 00:03:33,380 --> 00:03:38,383 also you haven’t got the landfill problem, because they last longer. 60 00:03:38,385 --> 00:03:42,286 DAISY: And there is another, potentially huge upside to LED lighting. 61 00:03:42,288 --> 00:03:46,323 NASA is experimenting to see how the light can be used to affect mood. 62 00:03:46,325 --> 00:03:51,328 LED lighting can be adjusted to produce a light similar to natural sunlight. 63 00:03:51,330 --> 00:03:54,900 And that can have a positive affect on people. 64 00:03:54,901 --> 00:03:59,470 DR. MURDOCH: The eye is very responsive to 470 nanometers of blue lighting. 65 00:03:59,471 --> 00:04:04,876 By using the LEDs, and having a blue peak, a spectral peak of blue built in, 66 00:04:04,878 --> 00:04:07,711 which we do here, although it shows up white, that blue 67 00:04:07,713 --> 00:04:10,548 will effect your circadian rhythms. 68 00:04:10,550 --> 00:04:13,218 By modulating light at certain frequencies, 69 00:04:13,220 --> 00:04:16,186 we know that it effects brain waves. 70 00:04:16,188 --> 00:04:19,056 DAISY: The International Space Station orbits the 71 00:04:19,058 --> 00:04:23,128 earth nearly 16 times every 24 hours. That means 16 sun 72 00:04:23,130 --> 00:04:27,698 rises and 16 sunsets in the period of one earth day. 73 00:04:27,700 --> 00:04:31,403 This wreaks havoc with astronauts normal sleep cycles. 74 00:04:31,405 --> 00:04:34,873 But the LEDs could changes all that, by providing light 75 00:04:34,875 --> 00:04:38,610 at frequencies that would make them very alert during prime work periods, 76 00:04:38,611 --> 00:04:42,046 then adjusting to allow them to wind down at the end of a work day. 77 00:04:43,250 --> 00:04:45,850 And for us earth bound travelers, the same 78 00:04:45,851 --> 00:04:49,553 technology could be used to significantly reduce jet lag. 79 00:04:49,555 --> 00:04:52,790 So thanks to NASA’s scientists and engineers, 80 00:04:52,791 --> 00:04:55,560 the future of space exploration is bright... 81 00:04:55,561 --> 00:04:57,995 and the positive energy developed in their labs 82 00:04:57,996 --> 00:05:01,391 will make life better here on earth as well. 83 00:05:01,393 --> 00:05:08,706 Keep track of this and all of NASA's exploration missions at www.nasa.gov. 84 00:05:08,708 --> 00:05:13,690 ? 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