Space - Dream, Imagine, Wonder

Every little kid seems to want to grow up to be an influential world leader, famous celebrity, renown Pokémon master or even a power ranger, but when I was younger it was my absolute dream to become an astronaut, to embark on my own space missions and undertake a voyage of the stars, becoming the Christopher Columbus of space and discovering new worlds, alien races and find answers to those age old questions that have pondered the minds of some of the greatest thinkers in history, still remaining unanswered to this day. I think that it is within the human nature to have a burning fascination with the unknown, spending our lives craving and gaining knowledge, learning about the world and universe around us and bettering the mind in the most incredible ways.

As a kid I would use my imagination to build spaceships out of cardboard boxes and make space helmets out of plastic bags (which in hindsight probably wasn't the best idea) and I still love reading space novels about the future and science fiction movies, both of which allow me to escape the reality of every day life and live this childhood dream of exploring space, even just for a fraction of time. I hope that I live long enough to witness at least the beginning of space exploration and the abyss beyond, I was even a little tempted to apply for the controversial and highly unlikely 'Mars mission' not so long ago, which may seem like such a ridiculous idea because who wants to throw themselves into a one way mission to a barren red rock in the sky, taking 2 years inside a tiny spacecraft, and putting yourself millions of miles away from civilization, breathable air and your loved ones? I think this leads back to the indescribable burning feeling of wanderlust and the need for adventure and exploration deep within myself combined with the thrill of danger and the unknown. I think it would be incredible to make history as the first adventurer of space, being the first human being to set foot on another planet, maybe even the first of many in the future.. You would be required to start a whole new life, create a whole new civilization, plant crops, experiment, explore and pave the way for space exploration in the future.

By this point I think that it is fairly safe to say that I have a little fascination for space. I sometimes look up at the sky and wonder what is actually out there. Are we alone? Is there somebody else out there millions of miles away on another planet looking up at the same sky and pondering the same question? I still get that feeling of young and captivating joy when thinking about how absolutely incredible it is that every single little glowing orb carpeting the night sky is in fact it's own huge gas giant of a star, billions of light years away. Every single one of these unique stars has an important place in the universe and contains it's own little complex solar system, surrounded by huge masses of space rock that we like to call planets, consisting of all shapes, sizes and chemical make ups. Now that is a lot of planets, sitting there, waiting to be discovered and explored. I am one of those people that does believe that there must be some form of life out there in the vast universe other than ourselves, if it has managed to happen once, against all odds, then surely it has the potential to occur again in the same perfect conditions right?! It may not be intelligent life with complex ecosystems, an economical system or even basic knowledge of the universe, but simple organisms is exactly where we began too all those millions of years ago here on planet Earth.

The two things that make me the most sad is that my childhood dream of becoming an astronaut will most most probably never come true and even the human race as a whole will not explore space for many more years to come, perhaps never venturing beyond our own solar system.. at least for the long foreseeable future, due to physical restraints on technology and the relatively short human life span compared to how long it would take to travel millions of miles across the universe. Until then, I guess I will just have to make do with looking up at the sky and dreaming up my own theories of what the dark realms of space beyond our little atmosphere is like. Sometimes finding out the truth doesn't live up to our high expectations, so maybe it is better that way, leaving the imagination to run wild.

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