Message

A TORCH
TO THE NEXT GENERATION
The universe, the earth and human beings

By Toshiro Sawanuki, Space Artist

The earth is moving without stopping although we seldom or never focus or feel it in our daily lives. It goes around the sun once a year by rotating on itself. The sun makes the grand tour of the central galaxy by leading the earth and other planets over 250 million years. And the galaxy journeys around the universe in endless time.

It is said that there are 20 billion suns (stars) in a galaxy. There are a few hundreds billions of galaxies in the universe.

Measured on universal scale, the earth is like a grain of sand in a desert. We are born and live in this planet by our fate. We can not live without it and we cannot get away from it.

It took a few billions of years to become in the shape of human beings like us today since the first life was born on the earth. A few hundred thousands of years later, human beings established civilization and countries, and live in today's world. There were various events in our past history. However, these events are accelerated and create many critical issues today.

How about the future? Will there be the abundant earth in a 100 years or 1000 years? Will our descendants live a good life in the abundant earth then? It may depend on us living today.

I hope for the future and the earth where the children who were born this year can think of their lives in the end as "a really good life" in 100 years.

By the way, one astronaut who has been to the moon in the past made a very impressive comment. When he set foot on the lunar surface, his impression was that: "I understood why we came here. It's not to observe the moon closely, but to turn around and look at the earth, our residence. The earth observed from the moon was shining beautifully in blue as if it were a glass ball easily damaged by touching."
I would like to pass the torch on to the next generation in a favorable manner.