“Starstruck”

As darkness descends a bit earlier each evening, our opportunity to notice the night sky increases. Gazing up at our galaxy spread out before us like a luminous tapestry, one can’t help but feel very, very small. The absolute vastness of space is so overwhelming that we can easily lose ourselves in its ostensibly endless depths. At the same time, we know that everything was created especially for us, and being aware of the essential role that we play in holding up the universe imbues us with a universal sense of purpose, making us feel very, very significant.

Personal space

Space is nothing if not…spacious. In fact, it’s closer to “nothing” than we realize. The term “space” actually refers to the empty space, literally, that is between all of the physical pieces of the universe.  When you remove the stars, planets, moons, asteroids, satellites, etc., what you are left with is space.

Space is clearly different from our sky, being black while the latter is blue. The appealing color of Earth’s sky is produced when our atmosphere scatters light. At a point called the Kármán Line, approximately 62 miles above the earth’s surface, there is no longer the ability to bend the light spectrum, directing the blue toward us, and only inky blackness remains.

Since our atmosphere, containing all of the air, stops at the Kármán Line, there are understandably no air molecules in space. Not only does this make it impossible to breathe, it also makes it absolutely silent. Noise can only travel along a medium, which the empty space of space simply does not provide. If astronauts screamed in space outside of their spacesuits, not only would no one hear it, the sound wouldn’t even leave their own mouths. It’s like an all-encompassing mute button that is permanently engaged.

Technically, the various gasses in our galaxy can carry some vibrations needed to produce sound, but they are not dense enough to effectively relay something that our ears can detect. Astronauts can speak freely to one another within their spaceships because they bring their own supply of oxygen with them. If a spaceship tragically exploded while in orbit, the gasses inside the doomed ship might be able to deliver a distress call for a short distance before they dissipated, but any other ship close enough to hear the cry would also be close enough to be destroyed by the blast. This scenario is simultaneously a moot point and a mute point and should never happen. May all of our brave astronauts be blessed with safety and success.

The Space Race

The first man-made satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched by the Russians on October 4, 1957. The following year, the United States launched its own satellite, Explorer I, and President Eisenhower created NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Afraid that aggressive countries would dominate the skies with the power to gather intelligence and deploy weapons, the space race was on. The U.S. government currently invests more in its space program than any other country, over $50 billion just last year! Over the years, America has built six space shuttles, although only five of them were spaceworthy: Challenger, Enterprise, Columbia, Discovery, Atlantis, and the Endeavor. Of the 135 missions flown between 1981 and 2011, 135 went according to plan and two ended in disaster.

In mid-November, NASA rose in full glory to launch the Artemis I, using nine million pounds of thrust to successfully carry the unmanned Orion spacecraft on a 25-day journey to orbit the moon and return. The goal of this mission is to determine whether the shuttle’s design is safe for its subsequent flight with astronauts aboard. Thus far, NASA is extremely pleased with its performance and ultimately intends to establish a long-term presence on the moon for research and exploration.

Currently featured in the news, the James Webb Space Telescope makes distant galaxies accessible to the scientific community as never before possible. The breathtaking images it shares with the world has reignited a spark of curiosity and awe at our universe. Launched in 2021, it uses infrared wavelengths to observe everything from our own solar system to the mysteries of black holes.

Our adventures in space also continue with the International Space Station (ISS), which maintains an altitude of around 250 miles from the surface of our planet and orbits the Earth approximately every 90 minutes. Five organizations (NASA from the United States, Roscosmos from Russia, JAXA from Japan, ESA from Europe, and CSA from Canada) are collaborating to do scientific research aboard the ISS that will benefit all of humanity. Working together effectively signals the end of the race; by cooperating we are all winners.

The Vacuum of Space

Many can empathize with the widespread phenomena that any available counter space in a home is quickly consumed by items and papers that no one quite knows where to put. Outer space is no different and has similarly accumulated its own share of “junk” since the launch of the first man-made satellite over 60 years ago. While there are currently around 2,000 active satellites in Earth’s orbit, there are also approximately 3,000 “dead” ones that are no longer in use.

Because of the high cost already invested in space programs, unusable equipment is rarely retrieved. Anything that humans leave behind in the universe is called “debris.” Although this does not pose a problem to us in Baltimore, it can destroy important items in space. Active satellites have been damaged beyond repair by collisions with defunct ones, and the International Space Station has already made more than 20 maneuvers to avoid being directly hit by decrepit space machinery.

Some people question why we can’t just send all of our garbage into space. After all, our landfills are full, and space is not. In theory, this is a superb idea – until you find out that it costs around $10,000 to launch each pound. Knowing that space has enough trash of its own and the astronomical price tag attached to disposing of ours, we will continue to look for more grounded solutions to our growing garbage problem.

Though it is arguable which would be a greater challenge – cleaning up the universe or clearing my kitchen counter – simply leaving things where they are is likely to cause more problems in the future in both cases. While the genius minds at NASA are working on a solution to successfully tackle the debris in space, I am still hopeful that my own home will pull through.

Starlight, Starbright.

Many things exist just beyond our range of vision. Observed through telescopes, asteroids and comets are completely different. Asteroids are made of metal and rocks, while comets are made from ice and dust and may develop a tail when they travel close to the sun. Halley’s Comet, which is the only short-period comet clearly visible without the use of a telescope, completes its journey around the sun every 75 to 79 years. As such, it is the only comet that can be seen twice in one’s lifetime. Last seen in 1986, Halley’s Comet is expected to return to our “neighborhood” in 2061.

Things in space may seem confusing at first but become clear once we fine tune our understanding. For example, meteoroids are asteroids that have entered Earth’s atmosphere. If they subsequently begin to burn up, their status is changed to a meteor or a “shooting star.” If they do not burn up completely but manage to reach the planet’s surface, they are referred to as meteorites.

The notion of making a wish upon seeing a “shooting star” is as foolish as thinking that they are actually stars in the first place. Our sun, which is an average-sized star, is more than 100 times wider than Earth and 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit on its surface. If it, or any other star, were actually falling through our atmosphere, the wish-maker would quickly find their most sincere whispers completely ineffective. Instead of a wish, we say the bracha “Osei ma’asei breishis,” acknowledging that this awe-inspiring event is part of the beautiful natural phenomena that Hashem creates for us to enjoy.

Mazal Tov!

Upon hearing about a simcha, the words, “Mazal tov!” are often the first ones spoken. Although we use this phrase to wish someone “good luck,” it actually means “a good constellation.” It highlights their current good fortune because the stars have aligned for them. (The phrase that refers to future success is behatzlacha.)

Events written in the stars are real and cannot be altered. This is the reason why Paroh’s stargazers were correct when they said that a boy would be born who would take the Jewish people out of Mitzrayim. They also knew that the child would suffer his downfall through water. Even though what they saw in the stars was correct, they formed their own conclusions, which were not. As such, Moshe was born at that time and did lead klal Yisrael out of slavery, but his mistake came much later when he hit the rock to get water instead of talking to it.

On the same note, Avraham was so certain that he would not have children since it was clearly written in the stars that he argued the point with Hashem. Parshas Lech Lecha tells us that Hashem took Avraham outside to “look toward Shamayim and count the stars….” The midrash explains that Hashem took Avraham outside the system of the constellations to show him that the Jewish people are not bound by what is written there. (The word habet, to look, means “to look from above.”) This concept also appears in Yirmiyahu, when Hashem says, “Do not be dismayed by the signs of sky, for the nations are dismayed at them.” While the mazalos do influence our world and what they reveal cannot be countered, when connected to Hashem, klal Yisrael rises even higher.

“The moon and stars to rule the night, for His kindness is Eternal” (Tehillim 136:9). Stars were originally created to be companions for the moon. We learn in Bereishis that Hashem reduced the moon’s size after it complained about having to share the sky with the sun. Even though the moon was responsible for acting poorly and was punished accordingly, Hashem set up the stars to keep it company and comfort it. We can learn from this how essential it is to be sensitive to others even when they deserve consequences for their actions. We can also clearly see how important it is to be present for others. Like the moon, no one deserves to be alone, and the night sky is radiant with that message.

As a people that has witnessed empires fall into stardust and whose own children are likened to the stars, we stand proud, luminous in our role as a light for the nations. Like the stars, we do not reflect what is around us; rather, we create our own light. May we continue to use our collective strengths to light up darkness with Hashem’s majesty.

Debbie Glazer lives in Pikesville with her husband and seven children and teaches Language Arts in Bnos Yisroel High School. She can often be found either writing or reading and loves to share her passion for the written word with others.