We are very fortunate to be alive in the decade, in which the first two man made objects(Voyager 1 and Voyager 2) left our solar system. Starting from the order in which these spacecrafts were launched (Voyager 2 was launched before Voyager 1), the alignment of the planets that made it possible for the probes to travel enormous distances, the golden record; every aspect of these missions are one of a kind. The International Space Station, the Hubble telescope and the vast plethora of other achievements in this domain makes me wonder if we are the most intelligent species in the universe. Considering the fact that we started flying planes just about 100 years ago, we have come a long way.
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey by Neil deGrasse Tyson is probably one of the best documentaries out there that explains the very foundations of the universe. This is one of the my favorite photographs of earth taken by voyager.
If you haven’t seen this before, it is the photograph of earth in a beam of sunlight. Look closer. It’s a pale blue dot.
No doubt these are tremendous achievements of mankind, but how does it affect our daily lives? It might no be very obvious but these discoveries make us question the claims that all religions make. Religion has always placed God just beyond what science could explain, at that point in time. However, that is probably not possible anymore. Religion can be a powerful tool to guide people to follow a path, that can be beneficial for the society. But, it’s principles are often misunderstood/ used by a few powerful people to control the masses.
This has definitely changed the way I look at my everyday life. The sheer enormity of ever-expanding universe and the incomprehensibility of the concept of time just makes all our troubles look so useless and stupid. I think that’s probably the easiest way to look at all problems. Always remembering that it won’t matter in some time should give us hope to keep going forward!!
Praveen
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