Voyager One is a space probe that was launched on September the 5th in 1977 by NASA. It's purpose was to study the outer reaches of our solar system and return data for us to study. It has amassed a lot of interesting information however there is one thing in particular that is of interest for me.
The Pale Blue Dot
That is the name of a photograph that was taken by Voyager 1 of Earth from the outer edge of the solar system. It was taken as Voyager was leaving the solar system having completed it's primary mission. The famous author and astrophysicist Carl Sagan requested that the probe's camera be turned around for one last picture. The picture has since become a tribute to the success of the human race yet also it's insignificance.
This photo shows how insignificant we are. The things that happen in daily life, the stresses of work, the prices of petrol or the increases in taxes, are really irrelevant. They have no impact on the great cosmic scale. We as a race are of little importance. Sagan said in his book 'Pale Blue Dot: A Vision Of The Human Future In Space' that "Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves."
This picture shows that we are a small pocket of civilization in the universe. There may be other life out there however the chance that they will make contact is very slim. I find that this is a humbling thought. Our Sun could run out of fuel and expand to envelop the Earth yet it would not matter to the rest of the universe. Our Sun is one of billions of stars in the universe and we are just a lump of rock that is orbiting that star.
