Even though it was just a TV show, that little speech at the beginning of the original Star Trek show really did a good job of capturing our feelings about the universe. It is these feelings that drive our love for astronomy and our desire to learn more and more about it.
The thing that's most exciting about studying the universe is also the most frustrating, and that's that no matter how expert we are, we're always just getting started. But if it's any consolation, some of the most advanced minds in science and history have always felt that way about the universe. Even greats like Copernicus and Einstein looked up into space and felt that they were special in the presence of such infinity.
Of course, space is not infinite. It has to be final, which means it has to end somehow. But if so, no one on this little planet has figured out where it is. The only thing that brought us to the "end of the universe" is our limited ability to see deeper into space.
But conquering the final frontier of space means more than just seeing more stars and planets and building the biggest telescope we can. We have before us some mind-blowing concepts about how the universe works. The Big Bang and the expanding universe alone were enough to make your mind spin. But then we have the arrival of Einstein and the theory of relativity, which put the whole idea on its ear. Suddenly space isn't just three dimensions, but the dimension of time becomes exportable, and warping and perhaps even time travel seems almost possible.
The boundary of space is as much a path of the mind as it is a path of distance. When Steven Hawking showed us the mysteries of black holes, suddenly time and space could collapse and be twisted and changed in these intergalactic pressure cookers. If not for the wonders of radio astronomy, these ideas would remain just ideas, but science is slowly catching up with theory.
But the brilliance of mathematicians and brilliant minds like Hawking and Einstein continues to expand our ideas about space. We now have string theory that could revolutionize everything we know about space, time, and how the universe relates to itself. We can't just say, no, we've discovered enough. It's the final frontier. The starship Enterprise won't stop exploring, so neither can we. Because there's still an obstacle ahead that has a name but no real answer yet. It's called unified field theory, and those in the know tell us that if the Einsteins and Hawkins of today crack this theory, every other theory will fall into place.
These exciting concepts seem instrumental in putting the enormity of space into context. This can also be science fiction value. Not only are science fiction writers often visionaries of what will happen in the future, but they give us the idea that space is knowable, that despite how big it is and how small we are, we can conquer this frontier as we conquered others. In front of us.
This is often enough for humanity. If we can get the vision that we can conquer something, even if it is something so massive, so impossibly huge, it seems we are capable of anything. And the love of astronomy, perhaps unlike any other force on earth, has led mankind to this common goal of conquering space. The quest to establish an International Space Station and work together to extend our reach from this planet seems to be finding common ground among nations that otherwise can't agree on Earth's surface.
This alone may be why we must continue to support astronomy at the local level and the space program at the national level. It seems to be something that brings peace rather than war and makes us better people. But more than that, it's like we were made for it. Reaching out to the stars may be our destiny. If so, then our love of astronomy is more than a hobby, it's a calling.
You must be logged in to post a comment.