Alan Stern is a scientist at NASA, but he’s not just
any NASA scientist. He’s the man who (literally) provided us views of a
completely different world in our system. He is head of the New Horizon’s
mission to Pluto, Stern brought some stunning views and information about Pluto
to humanity and he is the guy who gave us our first genuine image of everyone’s
favorite former planet.
The New Horizons spacecraft covered 3 billion miles in
a decade (which is more than any space mission in history) to approach its
target. But why travel all that way?
Obviously, everyone likes seeing comprehensive images
of space, but at 3 billion miles, and with more than 10 years of work, is it actually
worth the trip? This is a question that commonly gets asked in relative to
space exploration–given all the tough probelms here on Earth, wouldn’t it make logic
to stay a little closer to home and participate in things that noticeably
improve our Pale Blue Dot?
Lately, Alan Stern answered these questions. At the
2016 Edison Awards, he emphasized exactly why humanity must carry on to venture
beyond Earth…to journey to the edge of the solar system and beyond. His speech
is summarized in the video below:
