We humans have always looked to the night sky and pondered our place in the cosmos. Indeed, the power of the stars to inspire and transform us stretches deep into our mythic past when constellations framed our understanding of the universe.

Each of us remembers when we first felt that profound connection to the cosmos and the tug of exploration and discovery. For me, it was when I first looked through my father’s home-built telescope on a clear night. Seeing the shadowed craters and mountains of the Moon and then the striking rings of Saturn changed me. I would be forever looking farther and deeper, reaching to discover more about the worlds around us.