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RD: The moon looks so far away. It makes me feel like a speck of dust.

Hanks: [Lowers his voice.] Isn’t that what we are? [Laughs]

RD: When you look at the galaxies, what do you feel?

Hanks: It makes me think that we are the most unique individuals in the cosmos because, first, we’re the only ones that we know of, okay? This is the only place we know where you can make a pair of glasses or a pot for a plant. And the sense of wonder is magnified by the amount of space. I once had dinner with [astronaut] Gene Cernan. He said, “Tom, during the Apollo 17 mission I was standing right in the middle of the time and space continuum. I could look at Earth and see it was getting to be nighttime in London while it was lunchtime in Texas. Then I could look over there and realize I was looking straight through the velvet blackness of infinity.” He also could look at his watch and realize: “Oh, I got to keep moving here ‘cause I only got another half-hour to do what I want to do.”

RD: When you contemplate space, does the complexity, the magnificence, make you think there’s some divine hand in this, or that it’s all random?

Hanks: Either one is tremendous leap of faith, and it could very well be that this is beyond our consciousness. How can you look at it and say this was plotted out on a graph? I think that would cheapen it somehow. At the same time, to say it just happened and is completely random would cheapen it as well. I’m thoroughly delighted by the mystery of it all.

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