The Universe

Question: Does the Universe have boundaries or does it go on and on into infinity and never ends?

I find this question on the Universe to be intriguing.  As an engineer with a B.S. degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Oklahoma and an M.S. degree in astronautics from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), I have studied and thought about the universe, space travel, rocket propulsion, astrodynamics, launch vehicles, satellites, and spacecraft.  I have also studied about space-time continuum, astronomy, unidentified flying objects (UFOs), flying saucers, and extra-terrestrial beings.

I served in the USAF for over eight years as an astronautical development engineer.  While on active duty in the Air Force, I had served tours of duty at the Air Force Satellite Test Center (AFSTC) in Sunnyvale, California, and at the Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO; now called SMC, Space and Missile Systems Center) in El Segundo, California.  I have also worked in the aerospace and defense industries for over a quarter century.

While working for a software services company that held a big contract at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, I had occasion to visit the facilities of a company that had a contract from NASA performing research work on the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).  Because of my relevant education, experience, and interests, I feel I can contribute to the discussion by providing my understanding and beliefs regarding the above question.

Two Schools of Thought on the Universe

There are two schools of thought on this idea.  One school says, yes, the Universe has an edge or boundary.  Proponents contend that the Universe looks like a soccer ball with a definite edge or boundary to it.  The other school of thought says, no, the Universe, if initiated with the Big Bang Theory, is continually expanding.  In other words, the Universe is infinite with no center, no edge, and no limits.  It just goes on forever.  I subscribe to the second school of thought where the Universe is infinite space.

These two schools of thought are theories.  Hence, neither idea is wrong or right.  Theories are postulates that have not yet been proven either right or wrong, although it appears to be right.  If one school of thought proves to be correct, then logic tells us that the other school of thought will conversely be incorrect, for both conditions cannot co-exist.

Hence, like Dr. Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, which appears to be correct at this time, scientists have not yet proven it as incorrect.  That is why it remains a theory.  However, I do point out that scientists, even today, are trying to prove Einstein’s theory to be flawed.

Matter Can Be Converted to Energy and Vice Versa

Dr. Einstein developed the equation E = mc².  This equation implies that we can convert matter (m) into energy (E) and vice versa.  The atomic bomb, indeed, proved that we can convert matter into energy in a massive atomic explosion with devastating force.  When we form a critical mass of uranium 235 (U-235) or U-238, we can sustain a radioactive atomic fission reaction that generates thousands and millions of tons of explosive force equivalent to kilotons of trinitrotoluene (TNT) or megatons of TNT.  Similarly, with the development of the hydrogen bomb, we can generate kiloton and megaton explosions through the fusion reaction, which provides a cleaner explosion than does a fission reaction.

The equality of Einstein’s E = mc² equation, however, greatly depends on the constant of proportionality c².  Now, c is the velocity of light.  Einstein contends that light travels at 186,000 miles per second, which is a constant velocity (i.e., speed and direction) through pure space.  If scientists could prove that the velocity of light is not constant but is instead variable, then they would prove that E is not equal to mc².  That would be a shocking discovery indeed!

Hence, if light continues to travel outward from some imaginary center, it goes on forever.  We measure light travel in light years.  A light year equals the distance that light travels in one year.  Hence, at 186,000 miles per second and a year being 31,536,000 sec/year (= 365 days/yr x 24 hr/day x 3,600 sec/hr), light travels 5.865696 quadrillion miles (or 5.865696 x 10¹² miles) in one year.  Now, since the beginning of time and the Big Bang, light has traveled for some 13 billion years.  Therefore, can you imagine the immense size of the Universe?  Further, the Universe is still expanding!

Two Theories of Light

There are two theories of light.  Scientists describe light as both (1) a moving electromagnetic sinusoidal wave (with a certain wavelength, frequency, amplitude, speed, and direction) as well as (2) a moving beam of particles such as a laser beam.  Scientists call these particles photons or bundles of energy.  Particles are usually mass, but bundles of energy are mass that has been converted to energy.

Moving particles possess speed (magnitude) and direction (a vector) and are, therefore, subject to the pull or attraction of gravity.  Consequently, we can turn particle or photon beams, originally traveling in a straight line, into a curvilinear path.  This means that light beams may not necessarily travel in a straight line as it would when we describe light as a moving electromagnetic sinusoidal wave.  In other words, by the attraction of various celestial bodies (i.e., sun, planets, moons, stars, asteroids, etc.), a photon beam curves as it passes these bodies.  Consequently, light may not travel in straight lines, and by curving, its velocity may not remain constant either—as it travels through space.

As a moving electromagnetic sinusoidal wave, light travels in a straight line.  However, if we view light as a beam of photons, which can curve in direction, then light, initially traveling in a straight line, can go on and on and eventually return from whence it originated but from the opposite direction.

As the beam of photons passes celestial bodies, the photons may speed up as it approaches the vicinity of the body and then slow down as it goes beyond the gravitational influence of the body.  What would that do to Einstein’s assertion that the velocity of light is constant?  It punches a hole in his theory!  However, what saves Einstein’s energy-matter theory is that the two concepts of light are also theories.  Hence, we cannot prove a theory wrong by using, in our proof, other theories, which may be wrong.

Vision

Our eyesight is definitely limited in range.  When gawking into the sky during daytime, we are able to see the sun and sometimes the moon.  During nighttime, we are able to see the moon, stars, and falling meteorites (called shooting stars or meteor showers).  However, the earth’s atmosphere, serving as a sieve and filter, limits our eyesight.  If we were in orbit inside the Space Shuttle Orbiter vehicle or inside the International Space Station without the atmosphere to cloud our vision, we are able to see a whole lot more with the naked eye than we could while standing on the earth’s surface.

Not visible to the naked eye while standing on the earth’s surface, many stars are now visible to the naked eye while living in a spacecraft.  Additionally, with the aid of the Hubble Space Telescope (when it was operating correctly), astronauts were able to see even farther into the outer expanses of space.  They were able to see into the far reaches of the Milky Way galaxy, other galaxies, asteroid belts, space junk, and new planets, moons, and stars never heretofore seen by man.  Indeed, scientists and astronomers have recently found and identified new planets and new stars.

Life Exists in Other Galaxies

We are not alone in the Universe.  There are other worlds like planet earth.  Millions upon millions of stars exist in the Universe.  If other stars (our galaxy’s star being our sun) have planets orbiting them just as we have planets orbiting our sun, then, it is highly probable that such stars may possess planets equidistant from them as our earth is from our sun.  Furthermore, if the composition of a planet’s atmosphere is similar to that of the earth (i.e., about 80 percent nitrogen and 20 percent oxygen), then it is highly probable that it could sustain life (i.e., flora, fauna, and, possibly, Homo sapiens).  Consequently, I firmly believe that life exists on other worlds in other galaxies throughout the Universe.  That is my take on the Universe.

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