“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” Revelation 2:17.
It’s a moment University of Washington astronomy professor and NASA astrobiologist Dr. Don Brownlee awaited for nearly two decades. It may also be a moment prophets have awaited for millennia.
That moment arrived on January 15, 2006 when after billions of miles of travel through space the Stardust spacecraft (‘Brownlee’s dustbuster’) returned to Earth after a 7 year mission with a cargo of fine stardust.
When this great bird dropped out of the sky it dropped a UFO-shaped capsule carrying pristine interstellar particles… stardust … microscopic bits of pristine material, known as Brownlee particles, that may have condensed to form the sun, planets and even humankind.
The canister containing the precious dust won’t be opened until it reaches NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Tuesday, January 17, 2006. Only then will it be known if the mission was a complete success. A hundred and fifty scientists around the world are lined up to do the preliminary analysis and the tiny grains, all finer than the width of a human hair, will keep astronomers busy for years. This will be the first time any of them has been able to study the primordial stuff of the solar system in the lab.
The Stardust Mission has already been a phenomenal success. This is because it delivered more than just dust particles from the galaxy. Stardust delivered hope, a magic moment of global wonderment. It mesmerized the media, causing the talking heads on cable news to wax poetic like they haven’t in a very long time. A glint in the eye replaced their tired “this world sucks” expressions. They shook their heads with amazement rather than disgust.
Indeed, as Stardust’s payload dropped into the Utah desert it sent ripples of pure joy vibing through the human psyche.
I believe the reason Stardust amazed us most was because it signals a graduation of sorts for the human race. In my recent conversation with him on “Dreamland” Dr. Brownlee says we too are made of this stardust. What is significant about this project, he emphasized, was that we had to go get this star stuff. It wasn’t going to come to us.
In other words, we had to have the right stuff as a race in order to get this stuff and the profound secrets it contains.
And we do. This is my point. The Stardust mission could have implications on astrobiology, the multidisciplinary search for life beyond Earth. Brownlee expects information gathered by Stardust to shed light on how the solar system and the universe evolved. More importantly, Stardust could have its most dramatic influence on the human psyche.
The bottom line is this. We now have matter from alien stars in our hands, a time capsule if you will. An ancient “Hall of Records” has been accessed. Each particle is, in fact, an ancient library. If we view the Milky Way as the dove, it appears we are about to be anointed with astounding new knowledge.
As I point out in my DVD Anointing of the Dove, these pristine stardust particles may match the white (pure) stone from heaven, as described in the Book of Revelation. If so, this thimble full of pristine cosmic particles – or white stones – promises a new revelation.
What is the new ‘name’ written upon these particles? It could be a new understanding of the nature of matter and ourselves. Assuredly, new discoveries will be made and new names for the galactic synthesis of which we are all composed will ring from human lips. Stardust. I can’t wait to see what we do with it.
