WEBVTT 00:00:03.790 --> 00:00:06.905 DAISY: NASA has a bright idea... 00:00:06.906 --> 00:00:10.608 No... Not that old thing... That's better... 00:00:10.610 --> 00:00:14.445 See how NASA is developing LED lighting to make 00:00:14.446 --> 00:00:18.183 astronauts lives brighter in ways you'd never imagine. 00:00:18.185 --> 00:00:22.853 We'll shine a spot on the future of lighting... Next on Real World. 00:00:22.855 --> 00:00:26.495 ? [music] ? 00:00:31.043 --> 00:00:34.131 DAISY: NASA is developing next generation lighting 00:00:34.133 --> 00:00:37.235 technology for current and future missions. 00:00:37.236 --> 00:00:42.106 They're taking this, Light Emitting Diodes, to the next level. 00:00:42.108 --> 00:00:45.010 You may know it as LED lighting, and you can find a 00:00:45.011 --> 00:00:48.146 light just like this at your local hardware store. 00:00:48.148 --> 00:00:52.683 But this is the LED lighting assembly NASA has developed... 00:00:52.685 --> 00:00:57.421 and the first one has already been installed on the international space station. 00:00:57.423 --> 00:01:00.191 DR. TREVOR MURDOCH: We were tasked to produce a 00:01:00.193 --> 00:01:04.896 replacement for the general luminair assembly that is on the station. 00:01:04.898 --> 00:01:08.066 DAISY: Dr. Trevor Murdoch is a senior Engineer working 00:01:08.068 --> 00:01:10.635 with NASA for Bionetics Corporation. 00:01:10.636 --> 00:01:13.138 DR. MURDOCH: The GLAs are comprised of a fluorescent 00:01:13.140 --> 00:01:16.641 tube that basically lasts, if you’re lucky, for 12 months. 00:01:16.643 --> 00:01:20.878 So that’s a lot of uplift, up mass, and change out. 00:01:20.880 --> 00:01:24.315 ROBERT SOLER: An incandescent light, basically has a 00:01:24.316 --> 00:01:28.120 filament, a little coil and you run current through it. 00:01:28.121 --> 00:01:32.123 DAISY: Robert Soler is a lighting engineer for Bionetics Corporation. 00:01:32.125 --> 00:01:35.160 ROBERT: That current heats up the coil and the coil starts 00:01:35.161 --> 00:01:38.430 radiating, so it starts lighting up. 00:01:38.431 --> 00:01:41.231 All that is still heat that’s doing it. There’s only a 00:01:41.233 --> 00:01:44.601 small portion of that actual light that we can see, 00:01:44.603 --> 00:01:47.438 so the rest of it is just radiated heat. 00:01:47.440 --> 00:01:51.810 An LED light will take properties of certain metals 00:01:51.811 --> 00:01:55.880 and it runs the current through them and it actually 00:01:55.881 --> 00:01:59.885 excites the difference in the metals basically 00:01:59.886 --> 00:02:03.121 produce the photons of light. It takes the properties of 00:02:03.123 --> 00:02:05.803 these two metals and turns that into light. 00:02:05.805 --> 00:02:09.660 DAISY: So Dr Murdock and his colleagues came up with the SSLM, 00:02:09.661 --> 00:02:12.330 the Solid State Lighting Module. 00:02:12.331 --> 00:02:14.733 This picture shows two units, 00:02:14.735 --> 00:02:18.003 the top with a diffuser, the bottom without. 00:02:18.005 --> 00:02:22.173 DR. MURDOCH: So with the Solid-State Lighting Module, what we do is we use LEDs, 00:02:22.175 --> 00:02:26.378 and it’s developed to be a unit that you can dim. 00:02:26.380 --> 00:02:29.613 It also, it straight forward interfaces into station so 00:02:29.615 --> 00:02:32.950 you can use the normal interfaces to turn it on and off. 00:02:32.951 --> 00:02:35.620 The main difference is it will last about ten years. 00:02:35.621 --> 00:02:39.123 That was developed here at KSC under NASA funds. 00:02:39.125 --> 00:02:43.628 We actually developed this in a period of about 7 months, from start to finish. 00:02:43.630 --> 00:02:47.231 Put it through testing. Currently, there’s one up on 00:02:47.233 --> 00:02:50.868 station and there’s others that are ready to go when they’re ready. 00:02:52.305 --> 00:02:55.606 DAISY: The LED system is a big winner for NASA. 00:02:55.608 --> 00:02:59.745 One SSLM will last as long as 10 GLAs. 00:02:59.746 --> 00:03:03.348 That means less maintenance, and less cost. 00:03:04.316 --> 00:03:07.351 What’s more, LEDs are more energy efficient than 00:03:07.353 --> 00:03:09.888 fluorescent and incandescent lights. 00:03:09.890 --> 00:03:13.325 Plus they have superior dimming capabilities. 00:03:13.326 --> 00:03:17.795 This NASA LED lighting will make space a brighter place. 00:03:17.796 --> 00:03:21.466 And this technology will benefit us here on Earth, too. 00:03:21.468 --> 00:03:24.301 DR. MURDOCH: We’re looking at the future here, in your houses, 00:03:24.303 --> 00:03:27.071 office buildings, you know, within the next five years, 00:03:27.073 --> 00:03:30.141 you’re going to see more LED use, we’re going to reduce 00:03:30.143 --> 00:03:33.378 the amount of electricity used, which cuts your green house gasses, 00:03:33.380 --> 00:03:38.383 also you haven’t got the landfill problem, because they last longer. 00:03:38.385 --> 00:03:42.286 DAISY: And there is another, potentially huge upside to LED lighting. 00:03:42.288 --> 00:03:46.323 NASA is experimenting to see how the light can be used to affect mood. 00:03:46.325 --> 00:03:51.328 LED lighting can be adjusted to produce a light similar to natural sunlight. 00:03:51.330 --> 00:03:54.900 And that can have a positive affect on people. 00:03:54.901 --> 00:03:59.470 DR. MURDOCH: The eye is very responsive to 470 nanometers of blue lighting. 00:03:59.471 --> 00:04:04.876 By using the LEDs, and having a blue peak, a spectral peak of blue built in, 00:04:04.878 --> 00:04:07.711 which we do here, although it shows up white, that blue 00:04:07.713 --> 00:04:10.548 will effect your circadian rhythms. 00:04:10.550 --> 00:04:13.218 By modulating light at certain frequencies, 00:04:13.220 --> 00:04:16.186 we know that it effects brain waves. 00:04:16.188 --> 00:04:19.056 DAISY: The International Space Station orbits the 00:04:19.058 --> 00:04:23.128 earth nearly 16 times every 24 hours. That means 16 sun 00:04:23.130 --> 00:04:27.698 rises and 16 sunsets in the period of one earth day. 00:04:27.700 --> 00:04:31.403 This wreaks havoc with astronauts normal sleep cycles. 00:04:31.405 --> 00:04:34.873 But the LEDs could changes all that, by providing light 00:04:34.875 --> 00:04:38.610 at frequencies that would make them very alert during prime work periods, 00:04:38.611 --> 00:04:42.046 then adjusting to allow them to wind down at the end of a work day. 00:04:43.250 --> 00:04:45.850 And for us earth bound travelers, the same 00:04:45.851 --> 00:04:49.553 technology could be used to significantly reduce jet lag. 00:04:49.555 --> 00:04:52.790 So thanks to NASA’s scientists and engineers, 00:04:52.791 --> 00:04:55.560 the future of space exploration is bright... 00:04:55.561 --> 00:04:57.995 and the positive energy developed in their labs 00:04:57.996 --> 00:05:01.391 will make life better here on earth as well. 00:05:01.393 --> 00:05:08.706 Keep track of this and all of NASA's exploration missions at www.nasa.gov. 00:05:08.708 --> 00:05:13.690 ? 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