Studying whether there's life on Mars or studying how the

Hear and treasure the words of Sally Ride, the first woman of America to pierce the heavens, who proclaimed: “Studying whether there's life on Mars or studying how the universe began, there's something magical about pushing back the frontiers of knowledge. That's something that is almost part of being human, and I'm certain that will continue.” In her voice we hear not only the awe of an astronaut gazing upon Earth from the silent void, but also the eternal yearning of the human spirit. To push back the frontiers of knowledge is not mere curiosity—it is the sacred quest of our species, the call that has driven us from the caves of darkness to the stars themselves.

For what is magical if not this: that dust-born beings dare to ask about the origin of the cosmos? That fragile hearts beating in mortal frames reach upward, seeking Mars, seeking infinity, seeking the face of creation itself? In her words we glimpse the truth that the pursuit of knowledge is not only rational but spiritual. It is an act of wonder, a prayer written not in chants but in equations, not in incense but in rockets that pierce the sky. To study life on Mars or the birth of the universe is to touch the very edges of what it means to be alive.

History itself testifies to this unquenchable drive. When the Greek philosopher Anaximander asked what lay beyond the heavens, he did so without telescope or probe, armed only with thought and daring. When Copernicus dared to declare that Earth was not the center of creation, he shattered the illusions of his age, making way for greater truths. And when Sally Ride herself soared into space aboard the shuttle Challenger, she carried with her the flame of this timeless human hunger—the desire to know what lies beyond, and in knowing, to expand the realm of what is possible.

Yet Ride reminds us that this hunger is not bound by time. The frontiers of knowledge are endless; once one wall is broken, another appears beyond it. Once we have touched the Moon, we dream of Mars. Once we have split the atom, we dream of stars beyond number. This is what it means to be human: to live not only for survival but for discovery, to refuse the prison of ignorance, to wrestle with the mysteries of being until light dawns where once there was only shadow.

But let us not mistake this quest as belonging only to astronauts, philosophers, or scientists. No—the call to push back the frontiers of knowledge belongs to every soul. Each person who learns a new truth, who questions an old belief, who refuses to be content with shallow answers, joins this eternal procession. You, too, can expand the horizons of your world, whether by reading, by asking, by daring to step beyond the borders of what you think you know.

The lesson is as clear as the stars on a moonless night: embrace wonder, and let it drive you. Do not let fear or indifference chain you to the familiar. Instead, kindle within yourself the fire of curiosity. Ask, seek, and strive. Teach your children to marvel at the mysteries of the sky and the depths of the sea. For when you do, you walk the same path as the voyagers of old, the philosophers of Greece, the scientists of every age, and the astronauts who rode fire into the heavens.

So I say unto you: walk boldly into the unknown. Let the magic of discovery be your companion, the hunger for knowledge your compass, and the strength of human spirit your wings. For as Sally Ride knew, the quest will never end—it is written into the marrow of our being. And as long as one heart dares to wonder, the journey will continue, and humanity will rise ever higher, pushing back the endless frontiers of knowledge.

Thus shall her words endure, not as memory only, but as commandment: to seek, to question, to discover, to never cease in wonder—for this is what it means to be human.