Carolyn Porco
Carolyn Porco
Carolyn C. Porcois an American planetary scientist known for her work in the exploration of the outer solar system, beginning with her imaging work on the Voyager missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune in the 1980s. She leads the imaging science team on the Cassini mission currently in orbit around Saturn. She is an expert on planetary rings and the Saturnian moon, Enceladus...
beautiful dream sublime
We humans, though troubled and warlike, are also the dreams, thinkers, and explorers inhabiting one achingly beautiful planet, yearning for the sublime, and capable of the magnificent.
faces scientist eternity
Being a scientist and staring immensity and eternity in the face every day is as grand and inspiring as it gets,
children comforting age
Let’s teach our children from a very young age about the story of the universe and its incredible richness and beauty. It is already so much more glorious and awesome – and even comforting – than anything offered by any scripture or God concept I know.
children grandma teaching
All the atoms of our bodies will be blown into space in the disintegration of the solar system, to live on forever as mass or energy. That's what we should be teaching our children, not fairy tales about angels and seeing grandma in Heaven.
density gravity seen spiral structures
We have never seen anything like this before. There are spiral structures in the rings, there are gravity and density waves, but they are completely different things,
acquired details express fine images orbit purpose rings seeing seen
We acquired this spectacular, one-of-a-kind set of images immediately after getting into orbit for the express purpose of seeing fine details in the rings that we had not seen previously.
connection forget planet realized tremendous
I'll never forget when I realized there was this connection -- it was tremendous to know something that no one else on the planet knew,
interested lookout phenomena since
We've been on the lookout for them since February, 2004. Spokes are one of those Saturn-system phenomena that we are keenly interested in understanding.
appreciate blown ring scientist
I don't think you have to be a ring scientist to appreciate this. I'm blown away.
existence gun proves smoking
We have the smoking gun that proves the existence of water.
body conclusion evidence liquid radical realize small water within
We realize that this is a radical conclusion -- that we may have evidence for liquid water within a body so small and so cold.
environment liquid living looking potential radical realize solar system water
We realize that this is a radical conclusion. If we're right, we think we are looking at another environment in the solar system where we have liquid water and the potential for living organisms.
abundance dark expected models realized recent side surprised
Well, in some sense we should have expected, if the recent models are correct, to see them on the dark side where the photoelectron abundance is low. So, I was surprised to see them. But once they showed up, I realized we should have expected them there all along.
conditions diversity living might possibly solar system
However, if we are right, we have significantly broadened the diversity of solar system environments where we might possibly have conditions suitable for living organisms.