"Why is the human on Earth?"

"I believe that there is, despite the fact that we humans have done so much damage to the world, a reason for our existence on this planet. I think we are here because the universe -- with all of its wonder and balance and logic -- needs to be marveled at, and we are the only species (to our knowledge) that has the ability to do so.

"We are the only species that does not simply accept what is around us, but [one that ] also asks why [the elements of our surroundings] are around us, and how [these surroundings and environments] work.

"We are here because without us here to study it, the amazing complexity of the world would be wasted. And finally, we are here because the universe needs an entity to ask why it is here."

An excerpt from the closing pages of "Beyond: Visions of the Interplanetary Probes," by Michael Benson, written by his then-11-year-old daughter.