Copernicus' heliocentric system overthrew what was known as geocentrism the belief that everything in the universe revolved around the earth.
Not since Galileo redefined our understanding of the Earth's place in the universe has there been such a vigorous attack on what passes for conventional wisdom.
Mars is the only other earth-like planet in the known universe.
Mars is more like Earth than any other place in the known universe, and while astronomers now believe there may be millions of earth-like planets in our galaxy, Mars is the only one that is within reach.
Things that change our perception of our life on earth and our place in the universe.
Mr. Scharf makes vivid the mind-boggling nature of the universe by noting, for instance, that the space between a star like the sun and its nearest neighbor is 30 million times the diameter of the sun itself and that there are 10 billion stars in the universe for every human being who has ever walked the Earth.
By studying waves from galaxies that have taken millions of years to reach earth, the telescope could also shed new light on how the universe was shaped in the aftermath of the Big Bang by enabling astronomers to observe events just 300 million years into the estimated 13.7 billion-year life of the universe.
Scientists hope that in characterising these particles they can address similar sorts of questions to those pursued in particle accelerators in Earth laboratories - how did the Universe come into being and how is it constructed?
Many of the technologies that NASA develops to explore the universe and keep astronauts safe in the extreme environment of space have applications right here on Earth.
WHITEHOUSE: Rockets to Rockies: NASA Helps Build Colorado Economy
If the origin of life as we know it arose from a Big Bang in a distant area of the Universe, perhaps the solutions we seek to our problems on Earth may also lie there.
应用推荐