I just watched the 2016 IMax documentary, A Beautiful Planet, filmed mainly by NASA and the crews aboard the International Space Station, and narrated by the lovely Jennifer Lawrence.

The views from 217 miles overhead as the station pierced the absence of air at 17,500 miles per hour were spectacular. The filmmakers did a really good job of showing off the Space Station,

and an even better job of showing off Planet Earth in all her glory. Here are a few of my thoughts while watching this special show.

View from Above

The troubles of this world pale
in the absence of hostile voices as
determined astronauts float about doing
their chores in weightless flight.

Our home that Carl Sagan once called
the Pale Blue Dot glistens with night lights
from Europe to Asia and beyond.
Hundreds of lightening flashes from
thousands of miles apart light up the
world almost like the backdrop to a
musical composition.

“Is there life out there somewhere in our galaxy?”
Jennifer asks.
She reminds us of that very possibility a mere
500 light years away as five exo-planets
traverse in their orbital planes around Kepler-118.
Too soon to know but not too soon to watch.

Drake’s equation popped into my head
from which I once made my dismal calculation
that there are but two Earth-like planets with
advanced lifeforms for every three galaxies
It was little more than a guess.

Pioneer 10 has now traveled 49 Earth years
for a chance rendezvous with our galactic
neighbors if such there be.
What better vehicle than one with a
plaque containing Sagan’s images and
clues about us?

“Oh I have slipped the surly bonds of
Earth and danced the skies on laughter-silver
wings” an American pilot once intoned.
We have come a long way since those
early days of flight.
Still, nothing intrigues like the vastness
of space, perhaps the final frontier.