Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
He’s a world renowned cosmologist, a former professor of mathematics, a best-selling author, a fellow of the Royal Society, a member of the US National Academy of Science, and one of the latest and most popular new members of Facebook – and now that Stephen Hawking’s life is coming to the silver screen in the form of a biopic, NASA has paused to reflect on what the man widely regarded as one of the greatest thinkers who ever lived has meant to space exploration
[ Watch the Video: Professor Stephen Hawking On Space Exploration ]
On Monday, NASA released a new PSA featuring Eddie Redmayne, the actor who plays Professor Hawking in the new film “The Theory of Everything.” In the video, Redmayne said, “With NASA’s cutting-edge technology, we’re discovering the inner workings of our universe. Scientists are testing many of Hawking’s theories using NASA’s space telescopes like Hubble and Chandra.” Indeed, officials at the American space agency noted that Hawking’s theories “have unlocked a universe of possibilities that NASA and the world are exploring hand in hand.”
Watch The Theory of Everything trailer…
Hawking’s credentials are well known by most. He is the former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, the author of the international bestseller A Brief History of Time
Often overlooked, however, are his contributions to NASA and the space exploration industry as a whole, both as a scientist and a champion of their work. Consider another video, also posted on NASA’s website Monday, in which the narrator says simply, “when Professor Hawking speaks, NASA listens.” Later in that same video, Hawking said that he fears for the future of the Earth, due largely to the ever-expanding human population and the limited resources found on the planet, and that he believed that our species’ survival depends upon space exploration.
“If our species is to survive the next hundred years, let alone a thousand, it is imperative we voyage out into the blackness of space to colonize new worlds across the cosmos,” he said, adding that the International Space Station (ISS) is “pioneering space exploration.” Without the knowledge gained through research being conducted on the internationally-operated orbiting laboratory, Hawking explained, “travel into deep space is impossible… I think the work on the ISS will take a new generation of human space explorers out into our solar system and beyond.”
Hawking has also confidently predicted that there will be human settlements on the moon within the next 50 years, and said that he was hopeful people would be living on Mars before the end of the century. Those are bold goals, to be certain, and with a recent MIT-led evaluation of the Mars One project – an attempt to create such a colony on the Red Planet – determining that such and endeavor might not be entirely feasible, the goal might seem downright unattainable.
Professor Hawking has also made it clear that he is an atheist and does not believe in a Higher Power, even going so far as to say that that scientific fact and religious miracles are incompatible. Based on his comments regarding NASA, the ISS and space exploration in general, however, I think it’s safe to say that he is a man of faith – faith that these agencies and projects will ultimately lead the human race to its salvation amongst the stars. Monday’s gesture shows NASA clearly appreciates his support, but only time will tell if they will be able to reward his faith.
—–
Follow redOrbit on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.
The Symbiotic Relationship Between NASA And Stephen Hawking
editor
Comments