Astronomy
Diving Into a Sea of Stars
Growing With Space
The sound of waves crashing onto the rocks by the shore and the cold sand beneath me provide comfort as I lay on my back and watch the starry night sky with my dad. I, an inquisitive five-year-old, ask him innocently, “Where are these stars? I want to go to them”, as I extend my tiny arms towards the sky. My dad catches them with his giant warm hands and says, “The stars that you love so much are in space, Kutty. If you study hard enough, you can go visit them!”
We’ve all had that phase where we were obsessed with the moon, stars, and space as kids. Our parents are the first inspiration to think about space, as they teach us stories or rhymes about the moon (not to mention the Indian way of mothers getting their children to eat by showing and telling stories about the moon). This forms a subtle spark in our mind, which later blooms into a ferocious wave of curiosity.
The cold early morning air teases my skin as I tiptoe to the terrace with my dad. This secret adventure of trying to spot the movements of the ISS had to be as early as 3 am. I whisper to my dad to check the app on his phone that tracks the exact location of the ISS travelling miles above the earth. “Climb fast. It’ll pass in 2 minutes, and you’ll eat my head if you miss it again”, hurries my dad. I stare at the sky in awe as the tiny red ball crosses the sky. Even though my mind tells me it is stupid, I wave to the passing ISS in total admiration and say, “I want to go up there, dad”. “If you study hard enough, you can go there”, replies my dad.
The second stage of space exploration starts when we ask our parents questions about space and solar systems, as our schools start teaching these topics. Every child would’ve been asked to draw or make solar system models as a project and be graded on them. Some do it as a part of the curriculum, while some get really into it and begin their first journey into the universe of galactic fantasies. This is where they develop their interest in space and show their curiosity to learn more about it. A survey of 500 American children aged 7 to 14 shows that 93% are interested in outer space and one-third want a telescope. However, the number of children proceeding to show astronomy as a field of interest is comparatively low. Another survey shows that when asked at a primary school, just 11% of the students are interested in becoming astronauts.
As we grow older, our fascination for space tends to wane, and our attention toward other fields starts to wax. Once we step into our middle school stage, those ‘geeky’ kids, as they are called, are obsessed with a random topic and spend their time and pocket money exploring their curiosities, be it space or dinosaurs. They are the only ones left to dream and explore.
“Oh!! Have you heard about that WoW code, 6EQUJ5? It is the first extraterrestrial radio transmission ever detected. So aliens exist. How else do you think we get a random signal from the Sagittarius constellation?”, I argue as my friends stay in denial of accepting that aliens do exist. Frustration tingles under my nerves, as what I think is obvious is being denied by them. “But honestly, it could be a human error, in my opinion. I don’t understand why you keep arguing about it when we are not going to accept your argument”, counters my friend, to which my anger hits in, and a mediator steps in between to announce, “Guys, we have a science exam in a couple of days. Can we just forget about aliens for now?”
Some of us would’ve gotten into a fierce fight with our friends while debating about the existence of aliens in middle school. At this stage, where we reach the maturity to search for information on our own, our curious young minds strive for some valid information, either from books or from surfing the web. We tend to form a web of information that we believe and try to get others’ opinions on it through discussions and debates with our peer group. These discussions provide avenues for exploration and discovery that foster a productive exchange of ideas.
I try to control myself, hopping from place to place, but I can barely hold myself as I see the gigantic space shuttle Atlantis in the Kennedy Space Center standing prominently in the centre of the room. I feel goosebumps when it hits me that I’m standing next to the space shuttle that has been to space. My mind diverts to deep thinking, and I reveal, “Dad, I want to work for ISRO”, and stop listening as I know the standard reply would be, “If you study hard enough, you can go there”.
All our dreams and goals tend to get more vital with a powerful purpose. Keeping the inherent meaning of space exploration and achieving sustainability via space, our goals gain better motivation to power our curiosity shuttle across the universe.
The cultivation of knowledge on space (which fostered our brains to develop the skill of thinking) doesn’t stop when the passion for it is strong enough to give us the courage to face anything. In some cases, this passion for space might become a career option, while in others, it might become a hobby. Whatever it turns into, the need to dive into a sea of stars never stops for anyone who falls in love with space.
