“For The Progress Of All People”

Cosmic Cliffs of Carina Nebula (NASA)

 

I was just a toddler when President John F. Kennedy challenged the nation to “commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”

In a remarkable speech given four months later to a packed stadium at Rice University in Houston, Texas, President Kennedy spoke words that still resonate 60 years on:

“We meet at a college noted for knowledge, in a city noted for progress, in a state noted for strength and we stand in need of all three, for we meet in an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds.”

“We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people.”

 

Every space launch following JFK’s speech was avidly watched by every American alive; it was “must see TV” (though to be honest, there were only three or four channels to choose from in those days!). And then, the summer before I started 4th grade, Neil Armstrong took “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” and JFK’s dream was fulfilled.

In July, 53 years after the Apollo 11 “Eagle” landed on Tranquility Base, NASA released the first images from the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The words “spectacular” and “extraordinary” don’t do the images justice; “mind-blowing” is more like it.

 

Phantom Galaxy (Messier 74) – Click image to enlarge

 

When we Earthlings stare up at the dark night sky, every point of light we can see with our eyes emanates from planets in our own solar system and stars in our own Milky Way Galaxy. In the photograph from the JWST below, practically every light you see (except for the Milky Way’s spiky “stars”) are distant galaxies — thousands of them! Each one of those galaxies contains billions of stars. (NASA estimates the Milky Way contains 100-400 billion stars, including our own Sun.) The photograph captures just a tiny speck of sky. So much more awaits future exploration and scientific discovery.

 

 

Children don’t have to wait for a science lesson in school to learn about what these images tell us about the history and mysteries of the universe. As more awe-inspiring images from the JWST appear in 2023 and the years ahead, expect humanity to gain insight, and, it is hoped, humility, into our own presence and purpose on Earth.

View more images on the Webb Space Telescope website here, from NASA here, and Livescience here.

 

— Ned Ketyer, M.D. — All of us at AHN Pediatrics and The PediaBlog wish everyone a very happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year!

 

source http://www.thepediablog.com/2022/12/29/for-the-progress-of-all-people/