Welcome by Dominique Tilmans

Switch to Space 4, 2 October 2024

Intro Dominique Tilmans – Chair of S2S

Allow me to start this 4th edition of Switch to Space with a touch of philosophy! I'm going to share with you a story that I hope will remain engraved in your memory

Imagine this:

We are in 2.124. We have discovered a powerful new energy that allows us to travel fast and far into space.
A rich astronaut dreams of going to the Sombrero galaxy! Why the Sombrero Galaxy.... ? Because he's Mexican!

Let's call him .... Antonio!
Of course, the Sombrero galaxy is still a long way off, 30 million light years from Earth!

It will take Antonio 10 years to travel there and back.
10 years! Yes! What's 10 years if you have a goal, are passionate about it and you want to make your dream come true?

So, on 2 October 2124! Antonio leaves the Earth.
The launch is perfect, he crosses the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn...

He leaves our solar system and continues through our galaxy, the Milky Way, which is one of the trillions of galaxies in the universe.

He carefully avoids Sagittarius A, an enormous black hole.
When Antonio leaves the Milky Way, he is very excited; his Sombrero galaxy isn’t far away, and his excitement is growing.|
Finally, he reaches the Sombrero Galaxy, bright and white, one of the most beautiful galaxies known in the Universe. Sombrero is dazzling, astonishing and imposing..!
Antonio explores this massive galaxy, which contains the equivalent of 800 billion suns...
It's a new world, full of exciting and unexpected discoveries.
But after studying Sombrero for a few years, a great feeling of loneliness overcomes him: no distant peoples to meet, no intelligent life, no plants, no colours, no animals, no forests, no rivers, everything is grey and dry. He misses people, he misses the Earth...
After so much time alone, Antonio feels abandoned.
He decides to return to Earth and takes the same long road to infinity.
Nothing around him, just distant asteroids. In the total darkness, the stars seem to shine even brighter.
Antonio perseveres
He feels a great sense of isolation; only now does he realize just how terrifying the immensity of the universe is…
He forces himself not to think about his isolation and the crushing darkness.
He perseveres
Finally, he reaches our galaxy, then our solar system.
When Antonio passes Uranus, he can't contain his excitement.
He is now crossing Saturn.
In the distance, still a long way off, he recognises our planet Earth! It looks so small, so tiny, so fragile!
Excited, he approaches...
Our magical little blue dot, suspended in the infinite universe, where humanity lives... is very close!
It's extraordinary, so beautiful, so impressive, it's splendid, its colours are so spectacular.
Antonio had forgotten just how wonderful our planet is.
He recalls fond memories of Earth.

What is the conclusion of this story?

I'll leave that up to each and every one of you.
But consider this: The Earth is almost nothing! A mere grain of sand in the infinity of the universe. There are no other habitable planets, .... no other intelligent life for .... billion billion kilometres.

But we're lucky!!! So lucky!

We live on a planet - exceptional - generous and unique to which we must pay .... great attention.

Are we collectively and individually responsible? Yes!

But above all, we are providentially and collectively full of resources.

And you are the next ingenious generation! Be enthusiastic!