48 pages • 1 hour read
Christina LiClues to the Universe
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Historical Context: NASA
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was created on October 1st, 1958, after President Eisenhower’s decision to make space exploration a priority. This came in response to the Soviet Union’s advances in the same field, and because it was the height of the Cold War, competition between these two powerful nations was fierce. Like Ro’s father in Clues to the Universe, people who grew up during the 1960s and 1970s developed an excitement about space exploration as NASA’s programs advanced and more people were sent into space.
In 1977, NASA began the Space Shuttle program, sending its first test flight into the atmosphere and its first shuttle, the Columbia, into orbit in 1981. Many of these shuttles deployed satellites and other equipment into orbit or performed biological and physical experiments in space. The launching of these shuttles drew nationwide attention and hope for what was to be discovered. The Columbia had four orbital test flights, went on 28 missions, and spent 300 days in space over its 22-year life. Tragically, the Columbia’s final mission in 2003 resulted in failure and disintegration upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, leading to the death of all seven crew members. The event caused NASA to re-evaluate its space shuttle program, which eventually closed in 2011. Between 1981 and 2011, there were 135 space shuttle missions.
Alongside NASA’s Space Shuttle program, NASA also launched two space probes, the Voyager I and Voyager II, into space in 1977. These twin space probes were sent in two different directions with the goal of exploring the planets furthest from the sun. As of now, they are the only man-made objects to have reached beyond the heliosphere (the sun’s magnetic atmosphere). Both Voyager probes also carry on board a golden record that contains the natural sounds of Earth, along with music, scientific knowledge, and greetings in 55 languages. During the 1970s, a rise in interest in extraterrestrial life sparked the desire to send a “message in a bottle” out into space. Those involved hoped that, someday, the Voyager probes may be discovered in the far reaches of the universe by other lifeforms and give them a basic understanding of life on Earth. Ro’s father was particularly inspired by this idea, and this is why Ro decided to launch her father’s treasures into space.
Philosophical Context: Examining the Meaning of Life
Clues to the Universe is a middle-grade novel, but it is one that deals with larger philosophical questions and examines what is commonly referred to as the “meaning of life” through the perspective of scientific inquiry. Protagonist Ro is a curious, methodical thinker who expects the world around her to be as calculated as she is. When her father dies unexpectedly, Ro must rework her entire worldview while Finding Meaning in the Face of Loss. Ro discovers that she can make her own meaning in life through the pursuits she undertakes and the people she affects.
This reflects subjectivism, or the philosophical notion that life’s meaning depends on what the person makes of it. Existentialism also closely follows this line of thinking, purporting that people’s decisions and the ways they behave are what determine meaning in their lives. Ro finds it especially difficult to cope with her father’s death because he died so suddenly and so young, which reflects how analytical philosophers feel about death’s influence on the meaning of life. For someone to see life as not futile, or without a purpose, life must be long enough to fulfill that purpose, whatever it may be. Ro and her father did not even get to finish building their rocket, and Ro feels like they were both robbed of many years together. How life ends thus affects the meaning it has while a person is alive. Through completing the rocket and building a friendship with Benji, Ro finds that life takes on new meaning, even though she will always grieve the loss of her father.
