Two Sylvias' Weekly Muse: November 10, 2024
Issue 133
Hello, Readers and Writers!
A month ago, on October 14th, a single poem made history. Just days after Hurricane Milton roared through Florida, the largest spacecraft ever built by NASA blasted off from Kennedy Space Center carrying “In Praise of Mystery,” a poem written specifically for NASA’s 1.8-billion-mile mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa. Penned by the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States, Ada Limón, “In Praise of Mystery” serves to introduce Earth to Europa, a water-covered world that could contain microbial life: O second moon, we, too, are made of water, of vast and beckoning seas.
Limón was asked to compose her poem on paper in her own handwriting, which was then inscribed onto a metal plate that protects some of the craft’s electronics. The plate also includes the word “water” written in 103 different languages. When Limón was approached by NASA to write this special poem, there were several parameters—it was due in three months, had to be under 200 words, should contain wa…