[Beyond Earth] ‘Space can give dreams to children’
-
Loading... - Kyung-ok Kym
- 19 Apr 2023
- 65 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
Korean American NASA ambassador underlines space’s unlimited possibilities
Space is not just about new opportunities for future industry, but changing perspectives and presenting challenges and dreams for generations to come, says Paul Yun, a Korean American solar system ambassador for NASA. “What would be wise for Korea is to utilize space to its fullest to bring out every positive factor from it. If space can become a bigger area, not all smart children will be trying to go to medical school. If more children chase space-related dreams, Korea’s space ecosystem will grow naturally and have a bright future,” Yun told The Korea Herald in a video interview last week.
The ambassador for the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, who currently works as a mathematics professor at El Camino College in Torrance, California, noted that there are no clear rules in the global space race yet, adding that a player who can come up with the basic rules of the game will take the lead, and South Korea can be that player if it can paint the bigger picture.
“As the world tries to march into space, it will be about who makes the rules of space and can help all of humanity in a reasonable manner. A player who looks at the bigger picture will make the rules,” he said. Yun took the example of the early 2000s when not many realized what the internet was becoming and the giant impact it would have on industry and the economy, noting that IT giants such as Microsoft established the basic rules of cyberspace.
“We witnessed what happened with the virtual space. I think it was a preparation for the real space,” he said, indicating how the space industry and economy can grow exponentially. Despite Korea’s late start in the global space race, Yun pointed to space manufacturing, space mining, space tourism and space sports as future products and services that the country can look ahead to and begin preparations now for the long term.
Korea has been gearing up to invigorate the space sector on the back of recent milestones such as launching the Nuri rocket, which made Korea the seventh country in the world with the capability to put a satellite weighing more than 1 ton into orbit, and the Danuri, also known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter. Read More…
