Nuggets from Cosmos, Creator, and Human Destiny—Lost in Space?

Forget the fact that Voyager I and II may well have run out of power from their radioisotope thermal generators before this book’s publishing date, leaving them drifting aimlessly—hardly a stone’s throw from Earth, measured in cosmic distances. Let’s assume that our distant descendants could one day send out similar craft that would never lose power. What then? As Hawking realizes, the effort would still be in vain. In fact, our present spacecraft are a bad joke in the face of the vastness of the cosmos! In spite of what may seem like a great accomplishment, Wernher von Braun confessed, “Our space ventures have been only the smallest of steps in the vast reaches of the universe and have introduced more mysteries than they have solved.”