Poem Sent into Space, One Water World to Another
I am so excited about a collaboration between NASA and the Library of Congress’ 24th Poet Laureate Ada Limon! In case you have missed it, Limon has written an original poem that is engraved on the spacecraft Europa Clipper which is being sent to Europa, a moon of Jupiter, purported to be covered with water. Her poem is entitled “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa.”
Europa, one of the largest moons of Jupiter and in the solar system, is of special interest to scientists on Earth since it is covered in an ice-water shell. Limon’s poem addresses this kinship with our planet. She also writes about the wonder humans feel when contemplating worlds beyond our own.
You can see a print version and hear Limon read her poem by going to her website Http://adalimon.net. The announcement and poem are also on the NASA site but a lot harder to find. This project seems to me to be a true relationship between science and art, heart and mind. Many thanks to our gifted Poet Laureate and to NASA. This is an effort worth celebrating by poets everywhere.