EARTHBOUND - by Shirley Sokol
The stardust that originates from the stars inside our galaxy falls to Earth. All living beings on Earth contain stardust. Apparently, we, as humans, make up a successful segment of the universal waste management, full circle, from “dust to dust” program. Our cosmic dust is so small that it was recycled in the “Earth Bin” rather than the micrometeoroid, meteoroid or meteor bin, each containing much larger grains or particles of stardust.
The dust from our stars once formed a life force deep within their core. By the time it falls to Earth, it becomes a composite of our essential atoms. Researchers state that we are composed of 97% stardust, as it contains three of the five most important human elements, (carbon, nitrogen and oxygen). The other two essential components are not galaxy born, calcium and phosphorous. Then you would need to sprinkle in iron, zinc, potassium, water, blood and flesh to hold it all together. The worlds DNA includes stardust, as it forms together into a rocky composite to create planets such as Earth. This is why, from the rocks to the water they filter to insects, animals, humans and all of nature, stardust DNA is part of who and what we are made of.
Did you know, at the deepest part of the ocean you can find stardust a few billion years old? On Earth, through the meteors that have landed, the rocks and dirt etc. you can find stardust twice that old. All of this began with an exploding star in our galaxy that formed gas and dust clouds. Isn’t it amazing that the power of such tiny particles holds enough life to gather and refresh into a planet; one that continues to evolve, as humans do with additional extraterrestrial matter? The dust clouds that once blocked our scientists view now reveal through infrared light, a world of dust that is full of life and formatting life. Clusters of particles are formed, and one step leads to another. Please keep in mind, our dust is specific to our galaxy. There are stars outside the Milky Way that belong to interstellar galaxies that do not hold the same atoms. It worked for us, because we survive on the atoms and compounds of what supports our life, ecosystem and atmosphere.
How do we know this? Well, we can thank NASA budget cuts. As part of the Discovery program, they designed the fourth, less expensive scientific spacecraft to become the first to bring alien samples from a comet to Earth. NASA’s STARDUST, after a five-year journey, flew by come P/Wild 2 and collected particles of dust. The STARDUST had a detachable, cone-shaped capsule. The capsule had exterior panels lined with a lightweight aerogel to gently “catch” the fine grains of cosmos dust as it flew quickly by. The capsule, after this historic mission would soon return to Earth with a windy landing in the dessert of Utah.
According to NASA, the main spacecraft was then diverted so it would not re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. This would become one of the most important scientific research programs of our time.
Scientists involved with the program stated that, “Every atom of oxygen in our lungs, of carbon in our muscles, of calcium in our bones, of iron in our blood, was created inside a star before Earth was born. Hydrogen and helium, the lightest elements were produced in the Big Bang”.
STARDUST is the first U.S. mission launched to robotically obtain samples in deep space and return them to Earth. This important discovery also stemmed from the first NASA mission dedicated to exploring a comet.
STARDUST launched in 1999.
Close encounter with Comet Wild2 in 2004.
STARDUST’s capsule returns samples to Earth in 2006.
We may be closer to the universe than we realized. We are obviously a modern marvel if we are a combination of particles billions of years old, once acting as the life force to giant red stars in our solar system. Perhaps the question becomes, and answered by ones faith, was intervention still needed to design humans and the ecosystem to support life, as well as the likeness in spirit and nature by God or the Divine? Did they still have a role to play to complete the job? Ask yourself if you see science and faith combining their forces to create the Earth we know and love.