Voyager I and II 40 Years and counting.

Last night, I watched a documentary on the Voyager I and II on Netflix. This documentary chronicles the mission to explore space that was launched in 1977 when then President Jimmy Carter was in office. The building of the machinery to take the craft in to space was a genius undertaking followed by the likes of the brilliant Carl Sagan and many other scientists of the day. The mission, which was to go by Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus, was an undertaking like no other, as it brought to our eyes the mystery of our solar system. At the time of its launch, I was a 22 year old married mother of one, living in New Hampshire. That child, now almost 40 years old, spent the day with me today and will turn 40 in approximately two weeks.
At the time of its launch, our world was a very different place. There was not such thing as a cell phone, an Internet, nor the ability to speak on video feed via Skype to all parts of the world. As the documentary unfolded, images of other planets, and their surprises unfolded in real time, but it was not swift. After launching, it took three years to reach Jupiter and it was not until 2012 that (after much tweaking to upgrade certain functions) the machine barreled out of our galaxy and to the great reaches of the beyond infinite sky.
As the imagery unfolded, press conferences took place at the Jet propulsion agency and NASA and the scientists adorned the 70’s attire, hairstyles and songs of the day were played in the background at times. Then the 1980’s heralded many new discoveries, and also the reminder of the challenger explosion. That day, I was on my way to karate class, a woman of 31, and was reminded of the teacher in space, Krista McAuliffe, who perished onboard that machinery, along with many other astronauts. Each time a date, or a time came up, I remembered the time, where I was when it happened, and each time was reminded of how time has flown by in the blink of an eye careening to the 2000’s and beyond.
There were key moments in the show where I was flummoxed by the idea of our eyes resting upon things never seen before our eyes. The most haunting image was a kind of static that occurred on the screen when the Voyager left the confines of our galaxy and moved into another. A record placed in the machine contains many things that are meant for others to learn about us. How we look, what we sound like in many languages, songs from all over the world and times, and many other things that will be available to hear for billions of years. This kind of time travel is riveting to me, and contains multitudes when it comes to goosebumps and memories of times gone by.
As we entered the grand era that will no doubt be called “the Internet age” we will also be participants in many other grand and technological adventures. The idea of stagnation has left the global mindset giving way to ideas heretofore unrealized in the swift changes of time. There is a lot of reflection that takes place when you offer yourself to the time to do the reflecting! This is what happens at the end of the documentary and is amazing in its jewels to inspire the audience. At one point, the mission is “over” because the planned had met its end. The truth is, it never will end, but it had morphed into something much, much more grand, as the pictures of the galaxy looking back on the solar system was riveting, showing Earth as a tiny byte on the screen, a mere speck of dust, a tiny light, as it were. Where had all the time gone? Where was my life in that huge expanse of space and time? Where were all the days that had passed and the distances covered in my own life that took up that expanse of time in my own little world?

There is no regret in this blog post of mine. There is hope, there is admiration, love and genuine awe at the abilities we all have in this world of ideas and manifestations. We may be small, but we dream big. Huge, Expansively. I am proud to be a willing participant here and even more pleased to be able to share my dreams and visions in a world now beyond the horizon, every horizon, continuing on and on into the billions of galaxies. There is something unique about the time in which I have lived and am currently living. I am open and am blessed to be able to receive the joy in life that is ripe for the picking in this most grand time. The possibilities are infinite.

http://www.pbs.org/the-farthest/home/