A lesson from the long history of Space research: Just do it

A country boy in Chiba witnessed Mars on the Internet. Now he makes music

About 30 years ago, NASA landed the Mars Pathfinder space probe on Mars, the first time in 21 years since 1976, and it was widely covered by the Japanese media. Color photographs of the Martian surface taken by the rover were posted on the then-new “Internet” web page, and could be viewed by anyone in the world. Reddish-brown sand. Rolling stones. The sky was gray and dim, perhaps due to the dust. The earth, with its ruts clearly marked, and the exploratory vehicle in the background.

A room in an apartment complex along the bay coast of Chiba Prefecture. The boy’s eyes sparkled at the faraway landscape on the CRT PC display. Wow ……”, “Cool ……”, “I want to go to space ……”, “I want to build a robot…”. I want to build a robot…”. Since then, his dream has been “to become a scientist and build a space robot.

He worked hard and entered a fairly good high school. However, he realized that science-related studies were not for him at all, and he failed. In the volleyball club, he was bullied by the advisor and quit within a year. Youth, super unexpected. As a result, I became a band member (with a certain amount of effort), and then that band came to an end, and now I am back in Tokyo with a renewed determination to start a solo music career.

I went to the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) in Odaiba, Tokyo.

The person who invited me to the world of science this time was Mr. Homma, who works as a “science communicator. His role is to bridge the gap between the public and science and technology, and to promote activities to create the future together.

I believe that even if science advances, it cannot be called meaningful or valuable science unless it benefits people or is needed by people. Our role is to guide the public toward making use of science by listening to them and communicating with them”. Cool!

You said, “Today you want to know about the universe, what exactly do you want to know about?”

Like, what’s going on on the other side of the universe?　I want to know. Also, was it particles?　Like the string theory?　I am also interested in that kind of thing. I want to know about the origin of matter, or the root of this world. I also love science fiction movies!

Have you seen “Interstellar”?　Did you understand the last part?

Of course I have seen it. The last part is the scene in the 5th dimension? I don’t really like that part! There is another part that I don’t like. There is a scene where they are escaping from a planet in a small rocket. When they fly away from the earth, they desperately tried to get out of the atmosphere with a big rocket, but when they get out of the planet, it’s super easy to escape with a whiz. Isn’t that too opportunistic? I thought it was too convenient. Because of that, I couldn’t really concentrate on watching the movie after that.

The group of reporters was in a mood of “I don’t care. The tour began.

Space research is a tremendous project

The exhibits at Miraikan are extensive. The 3D movie program “Birthday” is shown in a planetarium-like dome theater, where visitors can learn about the history of the universe from its birth to the present and what the microscopic world is like. It is fun to fly between galaxies, enter the deepest crevices of an apple, and feel as if your size is rapidly changing.

You can see the actual engine used in the H2A rocket and enter a full-scale model of the space station. It’s great. I was back to my childish mind. Space development is not just a fantasy. It is a precious experience that makes you feel as if it were real. The models and explanations about particle accelerators and neutrinos stimulated my intellectual curiosity. The common point between these two is that they are trying to investigate small things that cannot be seen by the eye by building a huge device.

The world’s largest particle accelerator is said to have a circumference about the same as the Yamanote Line. That’s huge!　Further investigation revealed that it cost about 1 trillion yen to build, and Japan is also contributing 13.8 billion yen. Japan is also contributing 13.8 billion yen!

First of all, let me say something about the Super-Kamiokande in Gifu Prefecture, which was built to observe neutrinos. The name is too cool! I want to change the artist’s name to Super Nutmegakande. I digress. Super-Kamiokande is located 1,000 meters underground. It is 39 meters in diameter and 41 meters high! It is a cylindrical tank with 13,000 sensors attached to it. What we are trying to know with this device is 0.00000000000000000000000001 cm of neutrino. Huh?” is all I can say.

The fire lit in my soul when I saw Mars never fade away

The more I visited the exhibits, the more I learned about things I didn’t know, but the feeling of “Why did you go through all this trouble to try to know, you human ……” became stronger than the joy of it. The more I learned, the more I realized that the universe is full of things I don’t know. If you look outward, it is endlessly far and wide, and if you try to know the tiny little universe, the microscopic world, it is endlessly too small. But I don’t know if you are thinking, “I don’t know if I can do this,” or “I don’t know if I can do this! I don’t know if you are thinking, “I’m not going to let my powerlessness get the better of me, but there are people who have made a spirited effort to know something, and there are people who are still trying to know something.

In the exhibition, “Even a Pile of Dust Can Change the World,” I was able to feel how curiosity has changed the world we see. I really enjoyed this exhibit. Even if we try our best, we may only be able to discover a tiny fraction of the entire universe. But from that small portion, we can push the world forward! People! (The style of the exhibit and the graphics in the video are also really nice!!!) (The style of the exhibition and the graphics of the video are also very nice!

I gained new knowledge about space from my visit to Miraikan, but I gained an even bigger mindset than that. It was the spirit of “But I’m going to do it.

I left Odaiba with the thought that although I could never become a scientist, the fire in my soul that was planted that day when I admired Mars Pathfinder is still burning as such a feeling. Let’s do our best again tomorrow.

リリース情報

Summer Eye
“Daikichi”

Released on March 21, 2023 (Tuesday)

1. Failure (new mix)
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