Member-only story
The Pioneer Missions
The story behind the early space probes. humanity’s curiosity about space, and how it all began
“Earth is a small town with many neighborhoods in a very big universe.”
Ron Garan Jr.
Ron Garan graduated from the State University of New York College at Oneonta in 1982, He first flew in space as a Mission Specialist on the STS-124 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). He returned to ISS on April 4, 2011, for a six-month stay as a member of Expedition 27.
His quote here is quite a thought-provoking one when you come to consider what is outside of our own home planet. When it comes to thinking about it.
Earth is simply a tiny garden compared to the vastness of what awaits us out there in space.
During the time that has passed since the first artificial satellite in 1957, astronauts have traveled to the moon, probes have explored the solar system, and instruments in space have discovered thousands of planets around other stars.
I wonder who on this planet has at some point gazed up at the night skies and simply wondered who, or what is out there, maybe even asking…
