Thirty-five years ago, Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman wanted to inspire the world about exploring the solar system. In October 1980 they created the Planetary Society, an organization that could garner public support, spread the word about science and technology, and perhaps even advocate for them to both the populace and their government.
So much has happened since then. Cassini. New Horizons. Dawn to Vesta and Ceres, MESSENGER to Mercury, Magellan to Venus. And Mars, oh my, Mars.
To celebrate this remarkable anniversary, the good folks at Symphony of Science created a new Auto-tuned video, “Beyond the Horizon.” As usual, it’s both lovely and inspiring.
It also features three friends of mine: Bill Nye, Neil Tyson, and Emily Lakdawalla. All three have done more than their fair share of getting public excited about all exploration.
I’m a big fan of the Planetary Society. Their advocacy has been crucial in getting NASA planetary science funded, and the work they do has exposed millions of people to the wonder and joy of our solar system.
Happy 35th. May you have as many anniversaries as there are worlds to explore.
I’ve written about Symphony of Science many times and was even in one of their videos!
