In 1946, we got our first look at the Earth from space, thanks to a war-surplus V2 rocket repurposed by the U.S. Army. On Valentine’s Day in 1990, Voyager One took an iconic photo – of Earth as a tiny pale blue dot in the vastness of space. Excerpt:
We first glimpsed Earth’s curvature in 1946, via a repurposed German V-2 rocket that flew 65 miles above the surface. Year-by-year, we climbed a little higher, engineering a means to comprehend the magnitude of our home.
In 1968, Apollo 8 lunar module pilot William Anders captured the iconic Earthrise photo. We contemplated the beauty of our home.
But on Valentine’s Day 27 years ago, Voyager 1, from 4 billion miles away, took one final picture before switching off its camera forever. In the image, Earth, Carl Sagan said, was merely “a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.” So we pondered the insignificance of our home. The image inspired Sagan to write his book “The Pale Blue Dot,” and it continues to cripple human grandiosity.
And, about the Voyagers:
There aren’t any space missions like the Voyagers on the docket for the future, but both spacecraft continue beaming back data going on 40 years and counting. Voyager 1 became the first human-made thing to enter interstellar space, back in 2012 when it passed into the heliosphere, the bubble surrounding our solar system. Voyager 2 is expected to pierce the heliosphere around 2020.
Think about that. There is an object built by human hands, bearing human information, hurtling into the unfathomable deeps of interstellar space, even as you read these words. In a few years its brother will follow into those empty reaches.
Some day, I’d like to think humans will follow – maybe in a colossal generation ship, maybe in a constant-acceleration starship with a crew in deep-sleep, maybe in some faster-than-light craft driven by some as-yet un-imagined technology. I’m pretty sure I won’t live to see it, but I would love to be proven wrong.
As a part-time science-fiction writer, I’ve made some guesses as to the shape the future might take. I’m fifty-five now; I can expect to live to see thirty or forty more years of that future. I am and have been convinced that our destiny lay out there somewhere, far from this tiny little blue-white ball.
Oh, and here’s the photo. That’s us in the pale sunbeam on the right; as Carl Sagan said: “Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives.” I can’t add anything to that; not a word.
Mwaka 1946, dunia ilitazamwa kwa mara ya kwanza kutoka angani kwa roketi ya V-2 iliyotengenezwa na jeshi la Marekani. Siku ya wapendanao ya mwaka 1990 Voyager 1 ilichukua picha ya Dunia kama nukta ndogo ya bluu katika anga. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""Mungu alitoa mwangaza wa kwanza wa umbo la dunia mwaka 1946 kupitia roketi ya Ujerumani ya V-2 iliyopigwa marufuku iliyopaa umbali wa maili 65 juu ya uso wa dunia.""" Mwaka baada ya mwaka, tulipanda juu kidogo, tukitengeneza njia ya kuelewa ukubwa wa nyumba yetu. Mwaka 1968 msafiri wa Apollo 8 William Anders alichukua picha ya kwanza ya dunia. Tulitafakari uzuri wa nyumba yetu. Siku ya wapendanao, Voyager 1 ilichukua picha ya mwisho kabla ya kuzima kamera yake. Katika picha hiyo, Dunia, Carl Sagan alisema, ilikuwa tu "kiini cha vumbi kilichowekwa kwenye mwangaza wa jua". Kwa hiyo tulitafakari juu ya kutokuwa na maana kwa nyumba yetu. Picha hiyo ilimchochea Sagan kuandika kitabu chake <unk>The Pale Blue Dot,<unk> na inaendelea kuharibu ukuu wa kibinadamu. "Kuhusu Voyager, hakuna misheni yoyote ya anga kama ya Voyager iliyopangwa kwa siku zijazo, lakini vyombo vyote viwili vya angani vinaendelea kutuma data nyuma kwa miaka 40 na kuhesabu.""" Voyager 1 ilikuwa ndege ya kwanza ya binadamu kuingia katika anga ya kati ya nyota mnamo mwaka 2012 wakati ilipopitia heliosphere, chombo cha angani kinachozunguka mfumo wetu wa jua. Voyager 2 inatarajiwa kuvunja heliosphere karibu 2020. Fikiria jambo hilo. Kuna kitu kilichojengwa na mikono ya binadamu, chenye habari za kibinadamu, kinachoshambulia katika kina kisicho na kipimo cha anga la kati ya nyota, hata unaposoma maneno haya. Katika miaka michache ndugu yake atafuata katika maeneo hayo matupu. Siku moja, ningependa kufikiri wanadamu watafuata - labda katika meli kubwa ya kizazi, labda katika meli ya nyota ya kasi ya mara kwa mara na wafanyakazi katika usingizi wa kina, labda katika baadhi ya mashua ya kasi kuliko mwanga inayoendeshwa na baadhi ya teknolojia bado unimagined. Nina hakika kwamba sitakuwa hai ili kuiona, lakini ningependa kuthibitishwa kuwa nimekosea. Kama mwandishi wa hadithi za kubuniwa za sayansi kwa muda mfupi, nimefanya dhana fulani kuhusu jinsi wakati ujao unavyoweza kuwa. Nina umri wa miaka hamsini na tano sasa; naweza kutarajia kuishi ili kuona miaka mingine thelathini au arobaini ya wakati huo ujao. """Nina hakika kwamba hatima yetu iko mahali fulani, mbali na mpira huu mdogo wa bluu na nyeupe." Oh, na hapa ni picha. Hiyo ni sisi katika mwangaza wa jua pale kulia; kama Carl Sagan alisema: "Angalia tena katika nukta hiyo. Hiyo ni hapa. Hiyo ni nyumbani. Hiyo ni sisi. Kwenye kila mtu unayempenda, kila mtu unayemjua, kila mtu umewahi kusikia juu yake, kila binadamu ambaye amewahi kuwa, aliishi maisha yake. Siwezi kuongeza chochote kwa hilo; hakuna neno.