Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Choose one of the technologies that Sagan refers to as necessary for the next stage of space exploration: robotics, machine intelligence, virtual reality, terraforming, or one not mentioned here. How has this technology progressed since the book was published in 1994? In what ways has this technology met or not met Sagan’s expectations?

Find a passage in Pale Blue Dot that makes you feel a sense of wonder. How would you define “wonder” in this context, and how does Sagan use wonder to advance his argument?

Think of a problem close to you where one group of people believes they are superior to another group. Now imagine viewing this problem from beyond Saturn. In what ways does the problem seem different from this new perspective?

Make a case for Sagan’s theory that humans will be happier settling distant plans than they would be on Earth. Why does Sagan think this is the case, and do you agree?

Choose one of the scientists mentioned in Pale Blue Dot and research their life and career. Which “great demotion” did the scientist contribute to, and how might their specific contribution to science shape the way humans think of their place in the universe?

Make a case for the next mission that NASA should embark on, either robotic or human. Why that destination? What value does it have, scientific or otherwise? Does it benefit people today or in the future?

Pick a year in the 22nd century. Try to imagine the state of human exploration in the solar system by this year. Have we settled Mars? If not, why not? Have we learned how to move asteroids?

If a future robot mission to deep space took a photograph of Earth from beyond Neptune and Pluto, so far from the Sun that even the Sun looked like other stars, how would the effect of viewing that photograph be different or the same as the “pale blue dot” image? Is there value in an even more distant photograph of Earth?