NASA’s Europa Clipper is preparing for a mission to explore whether the icy moon Europa can support life. The spacecraft will carry the words of American poet Ada Limón, along with millions of names from around the world.
Limón’s poem, titled “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa,” is engraved on a metal plate attached to the uncrewed 30-meter spacecraft. The mission, initially set to launch on October 10, has been postponed due to weather conditions. The spacecraft will embark on a five-year journey, covering approximately 2.9 billion kilometers.
Limón’s poem honors the mission’s goal of determining if Europa, one of Jupiter’s 95 moons, has conditions that might allow life. The poem references the moon’s icy surface and an ocean believed to exist beneath it, using the theme of water to connect distant worlds.
The poem reads:
“And it is not darkness that unites us,
not the cold distance of space, but
the offering of water, each drop of rain,
each rivulet, each pulse, each vein.”
This poem is part of NASA’s Message in a Bottle project. The project will carry the names of 2.6 million people to Europa. NASA accepted name submissions through December 2023. These names will be engraved on a microchip alongside Limón’s poem.
Names on the microchip come from many countries, including Argentina, Australia, Fiji, Finland, Peru, and the Philippines. This diverse participation aligns with the themes in Limón’s poem about humanity’s desire to connect across distances.
The metal plate will also feature sonic waveforms representing the word “water” in 104 languages and the Drake Equation. The equation highlights humanity’s efforts to estimate the chances of finding life beyond Earth. Additionally, the plate includes an image of Ronald Greeley, a scientist who passed away in 2011 and contributed significantly to the early efforts of the Europa mission.
For Limón, writing poetry for an extraterrestrial mission was both an honor and a challenge. She expressed, “Eventually, what made the poem come together was realizing that in pointing toward other planets, stars, and moons, we are also recognizing the enormous gift that is our planet Earth. To point outward is also to point inward.”
Limón is currently in her second two-year term as U.S. Poet Laureate, a position that aims to highlight the importance of poetry and literature. Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, praised Limón’s work, stating it effectively conveys the human instincts for art, science, and exploration.
“Sending a poem into space on a mission to explore our solar system is an incredible opportunity for us all to reflect and sign on to Ada’s poem as a ‘Message in a Bottle’ from Earth,” Hayden said.
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