From the perspective of the earth, mankind is undoubtedly very great. We must know that in the 3.8 billion-year life history of the earth, many advanced and complex creatures have appeared, and there have also been glorious dinosaur eras. But these creatures are far from being compared with human beings, because we are intelligent life and have formed an intelligent civilization.
Human beings, as intelligent life, are fundamentally different from those without intelligence. Wisdom has allowed us to form civilization, and wisdom has allowed the continuous development of human civilization on the path of scientific exploration. It is also wisdom, which allows mankind to get rid of the shackles of the earth and head to the starry sky to explore the mysteries of the universe.
There was a glorious period in the history of human spaceflight in the latter part of the last century. Apollo achieved a manned landing on the moon and sent 11 astronauts to the moon successively. This is a big step for mankind to explore the universe. The human beings who have just learned to walk also carried out some great space exploration programs in the last century, such as the launch of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 interstellar probes.
For Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 I believe many astronomy enthusiasts have heard that these two probes shoulder human expectations, not only to complete the preliminary exploration of the planets in the outer solar system, but also to continue to the vast outer solar system. Go forward, hoping to be discovered by an alien civilization one day.
After human beings walked out of the earth, searching for extraterrestrial civilization is an important planned task, but we also understand that the remote probability of finding extraterrestrial civilization in the solar system is basically zero. If you want to find the figure of extraterrestrial civilization, there is a high probability of going out of the solar system. Just work. Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 carry a golden compact disc, which records information about the earth and human beings.
When Voyager goes out of the solar system one day, there is hope that it will be captured by alien civilizations. Through the information left on the golden disk, you can know the existence of the earth and humans, and come to the solar system to contact and communicate with humans. This may also be one of the most promising ways for humans to find alien civilizations. After all, with human technological prowess, we simply cannot actively contact alien civilizations. We can only expect alien civilizations to visit us.
Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were launched in 1977, but Voyager 1 departed 16 days later than Voyager 2, but over time, Voyager 1 ran to Voyager 2. In front of, leaving the heliosphere earlier. The reason why Voyager 1 is faster is mainly due to the continuous acceleration of several planets.
The orbital directions of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are different, so the speed of Voyager 1 is faster than that of Voyager 2. Since Voyager 1 is faster, it reaches Jupiter and Saturn. Will be earlier, and some data about Jupiter and Saturn have been collected.
Another important task of Voyager 1 is to complete the overflight observation of Titan. Why is Titan a key exploration target? The reason is that this planet has a very thick atmosphere, and it is also the only satellite in the solar system with a thick atmosphere. We all know that planets with atmospheres often have their own unique ecosystems, and the existence of ecosystems is a necessary condition for the birth and evolution of life.
It is precisely because of the thick atmosphere that the earth has formed a very good ecological environment, and then the birth and evolution of life and the birth of mankind. Therefore, after scientists have observed that Titan has a thick atmosphere, expectations for it are even higher, and some scientists even speculate that there may be life on the surface of Titan.
Voyager 1 successfully completed the overflight observation program of Titan, and sent us back preliminary observation data. Through these data, scientists were surprised to find that Titan’s excellence is far better than previously imagined. Although it is just an obscure orbital observation, scientists have a preliminary surprise discovery of Titan that its surface has a huge liquid state. The existence of lakes.
The goal of Voyager 1 is to keep advancing outside the solar system, so it will not stay in the exploration of the various planets in the solar system. After completing the flyby, it will move quickly toward the vast outside of the solar system. By February 14, 1990, Voyager 1 had completed all overflight missions in the solar system.
At this time, NASA issued instructions for Voyager 1 to look back at the solar system and took many photos. At this time, Voyager 1 is already 6.4 billion kilometers away from the earth. If you don’t look back at this time to take pictures of the solar system, and if you go forward and look back, you will see nothing. Therefore, this is also the last photo taken by Voyager 1 of the inner solar system. It is this photo that made us think deeply.
Among the many photos taken by Voyager 1 in retrospect, one photo looks unremarkable and easy to be overlooked by us. Through the photos, it seems that nothing can be seen, only the endless dark starry sky. It seems to be an unqualified work, but when we magnified this photo, it caused countless people to fall into deep thought.
The enlarged photo is more blurry, and it looks like there are some glare, but in this blurry and underexposed photo, we see a blue dot like dust. This blue dot is our earth. Looking at the earth from 6.4 billion kilometers away, it is like a particle of dust hanging in the universe, which seems to be wiped out by blowing it lightly.
But such a blue dot like dust entrusts all of mankind, all human life, all laughter, all hope and the future are in this small blue dot. It has allowed mankind to survive for millions of years. . The blue dust is nothing in front of the universe, it seems insignificant, but in front of mankind, it is our possession, without it, mankind cannot survive.
These photos also let us see the vastness of the universe, which is only 6.4 billion kilometers away from the earth, still in the orbit near Saturn, has not reached the edge of the solar system, and it is still far from getting out of the solar system. At this distance, the earth is as small as a particle of dust, and when it reaches the edge of the solar system, the earth is so small that it cannot be observed.
The solar system is 2 light-years in diameter. When we walk out of the solar system and look back at the earth, you will be even more shocked, because at that time the solar system was just a tiny piece of dust. This dust may require a lot of effort by mankind to conquer and truly come out, and after getting out of the solar system, we have to face the vast galaxy.
So is the Milky Way big? Compared with the earth and the solar system, the Milky Way is 200,000 light-years in diameter. However, when we walk out of the Milky Way one day, you will also be surprised to find that the Milky Way is just a tiny piece of dust. A piece of cake.
It can be seen that, whether it is the earth or human beings, it is nothing to the universe, and we are not that great. The greatness of human beings is built on a small earth, which is great relative to other animals. But in the face of the vast universe, we are too small and too weak. Perhaps in the unknown corners of the universe, there are many intelligent civilizations that have developed hundreds of millions of years, billions of years earlier than human beings, but they are still in the limited starry sky. Activities within the scope can not truly explore the universe freely.