Staring Into Space

You’ll never get tired of staring into space. 

Trust me. Once you’re up there, no one ever does. It’s an odyssey-en-large, sure, but I’ll bet you all of the money I have, that once you get up there, you’ll never get tired of staring into space.

The thing that everyone thinks of first, is the darkness. The endless black. Yeah. That’s definitely there. All those gaps where time hasn’t caught up, where those faraway infinite stars are striving to be seen. There’s potential there, yeah.

But space is more made of light, than darkness. You ever stood, mag-netics on, on the outside of a ship? Not done an EVA or an external repair job, but ever just… stood there? And looked?

It’s bright. Every single one of those little blinking lights is a star. Hard to think of it like that, huh? Sure, there’s probably one near you. Look at that, then think infinite.

All those little blinking lights. It’s like God’s control console. Or, whatever you prefer to think is hammering the buttons. I once heard someone say it’s like still snowflakes at night. I’ve never seen snow, so I can’t say. But I heard someone say it once.

But believe me, even that, that’s the entry level. I know it sounds crazy, but, it looks even better if you turn of all your lights – get the ship dark, holster your torch. You can’t turn off the local star, sure, but head out as far as you dare. Then stand there, and stare into space.

You can see it all. The faint line of the galaxy, it’s so bright. First time I saw it, I stood and cried like a baby. Take that galaxy line, and think of the size of the thing you’re standing in. Then think infinite.

Yeah, and trust me, I only ever seen it once, but if you’re in real, real dark. Away from any stars. Out there in the black sea. That’s when—

Oh? Huh. Yeah. Interstellar craft. Engines broke down halfway. Ran out of O2 and food, pretty quick. Everyone started killing each other. Killing themselves. Just me left, it was, staring right up into the face of everything.

That’s real stargazing.

Rescue ship showed up an hour later. Just missed my buddy.

Yeah? Yeah. Real tragic story. That’s the only other time I’ve cried like a baby. That and seeing the galaxy line, all bright like that.

Yeah, you’ll never get tired of staring into space.