The Pale Blue Dot

My earlier blogpost on Carl Sagan, concerning my association with him, which is one of the most valuable and enriching experiences of mine; and thoughts on Cosmos, both his, where we were convergent, and mine, where we were divergent; but which did not diminish my admiration of the man, his vision, his zest for science and beyond, into the secrets of the universe:

http://rameshgandhi.blogspot.in/2014/03/gurgles-of-earth.html
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Bhupen Gandhi wrote:

In 1978, USA sent a satellite "Voyager 1" in space on a fly-by mission to view our planets up-close and photograph them for the first time, and then continue its journey beyond into interstellar space.  At the time Carl Sagan, the most famous astro-physicist of our times and adviser to NASA, convinced the agency, to turn the camera of the satellite towards earth for the one last time, to take its picture just before leaving our solar system.  After 36 years, "Voyager 1" just did that, four months ago.  The photographs of the Earth and the Moon, taken from beyond Saturn were published by NASA.

In 1980, Carl produced  "Cosmos",  an entrancing TV Series, most widely watched by the public around the world (perhaps, it should have been called, 'Everything you want to know about our Universe").  At the end of the series, he had made a profound concluding speech that was so relevant then and is more so, now.         

Recently, Ann Druyan, Carl's widow, produced "Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey", a follow-up to the earlier "Cosmos"  It was hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astro-physicist and director of the New York's Hayden Planetarium.  This series was just as exciting.  At the conclusion of the new series Carl's speech from the original was revisited.  It is truly prophetic; a must see and listen video.