The other day I decided after watching a documentary by Steven Hawking that there is a much greater chance of intelligent life beyond earth than I previously thought. I still remain much more pessimistic that it is within our small little solar system however.The thought that our galaxy is just one of many within the Milky Way which in turn is contained within the universe among of billions of galaxies. I can just about get my head around the fact that the sun is actually 109 times bigger than earth and that Jupiter is a long way away. Beyond that however seems just unimaginable.
This combined with that how long these planets and galaxies must have existed makes our recent history or even the exisitance of Human life seem minuscule. However we are developing at a faster rate than ever and 1969 was literally only yesterday in the grand scheme of things. That point means though there is only so much that can be accomplished within a generation.
With the world going though a difficult time with its finances this I can only assume slows progress down with less money available to spend on space programs. I would put space exploration high up on the list of priorities, its something that captures the imagination. For me looking at the bigger picture always allows you to see in perspective and there is no bigger picture than that of the solar system and beyond.
This gallery intrigued me for a while, especially No3, really shows how much more there is out there:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/09/around_the_solar_system.html
Thats enough deep thought for now, my heads starting to ache.
Image in public domain under creative commons:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Alien.png/435px-Alien.png
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