Ada Limón, Kentuckian and US poet laureate, to send poem to one of Jupiter's moons
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The U.S. poet laureate has something special to add to a spacecraft that will make the trip to a moon of the solar system's biggest planet.
Ada Limón, who took over as the country's 24th poet laureate in September, has been chosen for the "extreme honor" of writing an original poem that will be sent to Europa, one of Jupiter's 80 moons. The poem will be engraved on the side of a spacecraft that is slated to launch in October 2024, according to the Library of Congress.
"It’s the most intimidating and inspiring prompt I have ever received," Limón wrote Monday in a Twitter post.
I have been wanting to share this news since I first got the call. I have the extreme honor of crafting an original poem that will go on the spacecraft @EuropaClipper to Jupiter’s second moon Europa! It’s the most intimidating and inspiring prompt I have ever received. https://t.co/DFyUg1onPY
— Ada Limón (@adalimon) January 30, 2023
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The poet, originally from Sonoma, California, moved to Kentucky around 11 years ago after her husband got a job in Lexington. Limón was initially hesitant, but after getting to know the commonwealth's wildlife through hiking at places like Raven Run and the Red River Gorge, she previously told The Courier Journal, she fell in love with Kentucky's natural beauty. The nature of Kentucky continued to inspire some of Limón's poetry, which includes "Notes on the Below," written about the "endless plummet into more of the unknown" of Mammoth Cave National Park.
The nature of Europa, meanwhile, is a little different than what you'll find in the Bluegrass State. The moon, discovered in 1610 by Galileo, has a surface made most of water-ice, according to NASA, and scientists have found evidence that water lies below its surface.
Limón is a prolific poet. She has written six books in her 23-year career, and she's "slowly" working on a new book after her release "The Hurting Kind" came out last year. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has called Limón a "poet who connects" with works that "speak of intimate truths, of the beauty and heartbreak that is living, in ways that help us move forward.”
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The Europa Clipper misson is set to launch on Oct. 10, 2024, when it will send a spacecraft to scour Jupiter's moon and "investigate whether the icy moon could harbor conditions suitable for life."
Contact reporter Rae Johnson at RNJohnson@gannett.com. Follow them on Twitter at @RaeJ_33.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: US Poet Laureate Ada Limón to send poem to Jupiter's moon Europa
