Into the Void

We live in an amazing age of scientific discovery
Engineers at Ad Astra have nearly perfected the VASIMR drive
An engine that would make a 39 day trip to Mars possible

Scientists have recently made a breakthrough in cryogenic research
Keeping a person in suspended animation for decades may only be years away.

The birth of Space Tourism is driving a new era of competition in the Aerospace Industry
New Earth to Orbit shuttle designs are becoming safer and more efficient as time goes on

New extrasolar bodies are literally being discovered as fast as we can build the instruments to detect them
Some astronomers have gone so far to say that we will find an Earth-like-planet by May of 2011

What does all this mean?
It means that you and I are living in an era where interstellar travel may soon become a reality
It means that in a matter of decades, human beings could make the first manned expedition to an New Earth
It means that we might finally confirm if we have any cosmic brethren out in the vast ocean of space.

So ask yourself, when the time comes, when the first ship embarks into the unknown...
Will you be on it?
Will you leave everything you know behind, never to see your family or friends ever again?
Will you dare to be one of the first of a new generation of explorers?
Will you embark, on what will be the single greatest adventure in human history?

If you're answer is, "No," don't be ashamed.
You are human, and statistically not everyone is born with the will of an adventurer

However, if you answer, "Yes," you're name will be forever etched into history
You will journey into the very definition of the unknown, and behold all of the wonder of the cosmos
And should you ever return, to this pale blue dot, the problems and issues of the day...
They will be revealed to you as how truly trivial and petty they all ultimately are.

Dare to dream
Dare to explore
And leap into the unknown.