I heard a friend from work exclaim how cool it was. She then ran into another friends cube and showed us all the view from mars on her iPhone. And as she turned, so did the view…of Mars. We all huddled around her iPhone screen in amazement and it truly was the coolest thing I had seen in a very long time. A real 360 view of mars as seen by Curiosity.
And as I looked at the view, it was amazing that it looked like our own deserts…or Tatooine from Star Wars. The atmosphere is red not the actual planet.
My father is a rocket scientist. He helped create some of the technology that got us to the moon as well as the technology that we still use today with ballistic missile systems. When he was working on those projects, he was on the cutting edge of the latest technology. That technology has progressed so far beyond anything he could have done or even knew could be done. And in his lifetime, we have gone from the Moon all the way to Mars. And I cannot wait to show him this wonderful link so that he can see that surface of mars too. And he can know, that in a small way, he played a small part in the very beginning of our space travels. And that is so cool.
And even though this incredible cool technology that lets us see Mars from our phone (from our Phone, how freaking cool is that?!?), does not affect our daily life…it still does.
Because, for all our technology, we still need each other. I still need and want that moment with my Dad where I share the latest view of what technology can show us from many thousands of miles away. For all the tehcnology in our world today, we still need more than just a computer screens, iPhones, tablets, smart phones, laptops and such. to enjoy life. We need laughter with friends, tender moments with our parents and children, a shoulder when we are sad and a cheer when we are happy. That moment we lock eyes with our partner when making love, or the day we hold out first child, the hand we hold when we get that horrible news…none of these things could ever be replaced or manufactured by technology. Neither can compassion, empathy, understanding, joy, sorrow, love, excitmement, friendship companionship or trust. Those can only be manufactured in the Human heart. And it is also one of the most wonderful things about being human.
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