Last week, Makenzie Lystrup was sworn in as the new director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. She's the first woman director there. In a wonderful gesture, Lystrup chose not to swear on a bible or the US Constitution, both common choices during governmental swearing-in ceremonies. Instead, Lystrup placed her hand on a copy of Carl Sagan's 1994 stone cold classic book Pale Blue Dot. From Yahoo:
The book, published in 1994, is named after an iconic image of Earth, snapped by the Voyager I probe, that depicts the planet as a small speck smothered by the emptiness of space. That photo inspired astronomer Carl Sagan to write: "Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us." For many, the book serves as a reminder of humanity's place in the universe and the need to preserve our home planet, which makes it similar to holy scripture for a newly appointed NASA director.
