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On December 7, 1972 Apollo 17 was launched from Cape Kennedy. This would be the final manned mission in the American Apollo space program, the last manned mission to land on the moon and the last time a human was beyond low earth orbit. This photo which shows a fully illuminated earth was taken 5 hours and 6 minutes after launch. No human since has been to such a distance that would allow a whole-Earth photograph such as what has been dubbed “The Blue Marble.”
It was also on this Thursday that my little baby sister, Cindy Ann Deuel, was born at a hospital in Warwick, New York. This is exactly how the earth looked the very day Cindy came into the world. On this tenth anniversary, I want to remember her birth, not her death. Under the Apollo space program, the entire world watched as we successfully landed a man on the moon in 1969. For a brief moment in time, we were united as one people, as all of our differences faded away as we accomplished this unimaginable feat.
The Blue Marble expressly shows the vulnerability of the human race. In an instant, this beautiful place we call home, could meet the fate of the dinosaurs. We will either end up self destructing or an earthbound object is going to do the job. Sadly it seems the message in this photo has been lost over time. The moon missions and now the shuttle missions have come to end. The incessant wars and government sponsored terrorism has not.
Cindy’s favorite magazine was Astronomy. When asked what her ideal job would be, she answered the following, “No job, but to sit around all day and play with math, history and science...” Cindy dreamed big. She was fascinated by interstellar travel, as represented in the movie Contact. She could dish out a wicked argument supporting the idea that one day we will travel faster than the speed of light. In 2003 I honored Cindy by having her name sent to Mars on the Mars Exploration Rovers. DVDs bearing her name are now on Mars at Gusev Crater (Spirit) and at Meridiani Planum (Opportunity).
Today Cindy would’ve been 38. On December 7th, 1972 a fragile and vulnerable baby girl was born onto a fragile and vulnerable little blue marble. It has been 38 years since we’ve been to the moon. In that time the earth has cried out in pain, as we’ve blasted our bombs, polluted its water, and murdered its people. We need a military free zone: PLANET EARTH.
I’ve decided to go out tomorrow and buy blue marbles in Cindy’s name. I am going to share Cindy’s story with someone who doesn’t know. I am going to give them a blue marble and ask them to think of all the possible futures that existed the day that Cindy was born. 9/11 wasn’t destined to happen. We let it. Let’s not let it happen again. Get to know your neighbor. Don’t be afraid. Take care of your marble and the one beneath your feet. Make friends and share your marbles with the world and soon we will be traveling freely in space. Dream that one day we will travel to and peacefully coexist with all the other marbles in the night sky. If Cindy had lived, she would have seen to it. Now we can follow her trail of star dust from birth, to infinity and beyond.
Richard Anthony Deuel September 11, 2011
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