We can imagine that everything we perceive, learn, and think is false. We don’t even know what is true—what in this world is real? Perhaps the language we speak now is also false, for its origin can never be traced. Even if you look back to when people first created language, they couldn’t prove why they did it—because no one knows. When you step into space, you’ll realize there are always greater beings beyond humans and broader skies beyond the heavens.

Picture 1: This is Earth seen from the Moon [380,000 kilometers away from Earth]. Earth is 49 times the size of the Moon, and one Earth could hold about 20 Moons, yet Earth appears tiny when viewed from the Moon.

Picture 2: This is Earth seen from Voyager 1—a mere small dot. Picture 1 doesn’t reveal much, but when you see Picture 2, you’ll understand how insignificant we are in the vast universe. This small dot is our Earth, and it’s home to 8 billion humans—who are not even a grain of dust in the cosmos.

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You’ll realize how insignificant we are—even overwhelmed by a sense of awe and fear, known as the Overview Effect. The universe is filled with countless planets; the ones we’re most familiar with (and relatively close to Earth) include Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Yet among them, only the Moon has been accessible for human landing.

As of November 2025, the Moon remains the only celestial body where humans have successfully landed. Between 1969 and 1972, NASA’s Apollo program completed 6 crewed lunar missions, sending 11 astronauts to the Moon’s surface.

For other planets, only uncrewed probes have landed on Mars and Venus—manned missions are still pending. Mars has been the focus of more exploration: NASA has deployed multiple rovers, and China’s Tianwen-1 also achieved a successful landing. Venus, however, has harsh environmental conditions, limiting the data collected by landers. Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune have not been landed on due to inhospitable living conditions or extreme landing challenges.