It’s much harder to quantify ‘inspiration.’ But harder still is to overstate how many engineers and scientists—the ones tackling the most vexing human needs—had their interest sparked and their education accelerated by the Space Race. What will the next generation have?

Considering all the destructive and expensive and pointless crusades we undertake, at least space exploration brings knowledge and know-how and forward thinking.

On Fire Since the Word Go

“The extravagant gesture is the very stuff of creation. After one extravagant gesture of creation in the first place, the universe has continued to deal exclusively in extravagances, flinging intricacies and colossi down aeons of emptiness, heaping profusions on profligacies with fresh vigor. The whole show has been on fire since the word go.” —Annie Dillard

There are no special effects in the following video. It’s actual time lapse photography from the space station.

It’s a beautiful world »