Hero
of the Week
The
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA
is a group of scientists charged with exploring space (among other things). A
lot of attention is given to the astronauts (and often should be), but I want
to recognize the group as a whole. There are thousands of people who donate their
particular skill set to the greater overall goal of exploration. Thanks to these
scientists we can now see deeper into space than ever before.
I often take for granted the things
I see every day. I get to view images that were impossible a few hundred years
ago. Can you imagine what Sir Isaac Newton or Leonardo Da Vinci would have been
able to do with a simple calculator, much less a super-computer or super
telescope? Just a few thousand years ago we were monkeys poking things with
sticks. Now, we are still monkeys poking things with sticks, our sticks just
happen to be super telescopes. We are unbelievably lucky to be living right
now.
I
look at the glowing screen and laugh at a stupid video. I don’t take into
consideration the work and history that went into being able to see Charlie
biting his brother’s finger. I don’t see the nerds that worked their entire
lives to design a tiny bit of technology that adds to an overall project.
There are people right now inventing
new ways to explore the universe and they are sharing it with us. Just one of
the newest things NASA has accomplished is the Spitzer telescope. They have
taken a 360° picture of the Milky Way and put the whole thing on line for us to
look at. We can literally explore the universe from our own home because of
them. Here! Click on the link and see something that no one before this moment
in the history of the planet could see, until now.
So
since I can now explore the universe from my home computer, I will call NASA my
hero of the week… light year. Please leave a comment about your favorite NASA image, moment, discovery, nerd, etc.
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