After lengthy days packed with dialogues with international leaders, talks with legislators, and confidential briefings with advisors, President Jimmy Carter frequently sought comfort on the White House roof. There, his son Jeffrey had established a tracking telescope, as Carter recounted in his memoir, *A Full Life*. Under the expansive night sky, Carter would observe the stars, contemplating his role in the universe and finding relief from the weight of leadership.

“I recall one winter night venturing to the White House roof to examine the Orion nebulae, but we could hardly see the stars, their images dimmed by the city lights,” Carter penned in a poem. That particular night, on December 18, 1977, he was accompanied by the renowned astrophysicist Carl Sagan. Previously, the two had visited the U.S. Naval Observatory, where they engaged in discussions about space—planets, stars, black holes, and the possibility of life beyond our planet. Carter, a science enthusiast with a background in engineering and nuclear physics, called the experience “a welcome diversion from earthly concerns” in a thank-you note to Sagan.

Carter, who passed away on December 29, 2024, at the age of 100, was a dedicated astronomer with a lifelong passion for the universe. This lesser-publicized facet of his life began in his freshman year of college, where he served as a lab assistant for an astronomy professor. His interest intensified during his time in the U.S. Navy, where he acquired celestial navigation skills and achieved the rank of lieutenant. On one occasion, while on a ship with his family for Christmas, Carter inquired if the crew possessed a sextant. The captain presented one to him, preserved much like a museum piece in a glass case.

Although Carter loved space, his presidency often overshadowed his astronomical pursuits. His inaugural budget supported the initiative that ultimately became NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, yet he encountered criticism for not advocating for human spaceflight endeavors reminiscent of the Apollo missions. Steven Hochman, a former special assistant to Carter, noted that the president favored robotic exploration and research with tangible benefits for humanity over the significant expenses associated with sending astronauts into deep space. “NASA, I believe, has not credited him as he deserves,” Hochman remarked, highlighting Carter’s skepticism regarding the Space Shuttle program and his hesitance to finance future moon or Mars missions.

Carter’s curiosity about the unknown also included a well-known UFO sighting in 1969, which later became a target of mockery. After a Lions Club meeting in Leary, Georgia, Carter and several others witnessed a glowing object in the sky that shifted colors from blue to red. Although he never suggested it was an alien craft, skeptics attributed the sighting to Venus, a claim Carter firmly rejected in a 2007 interview. This incident fueled speculation that Carter’s administration’s interest in UFOs was influenced by his personal experience, although Carter denied originating a 1977 White House request for NASA to explore UFOs.

In November 1977, Carter and his son sought a telescope from NASA, which resulted in the delivery of a seven-inch Questar telescope from the Marshall Space Flight Center. The telescope was brought to the White House, where Carter and his family utilized it to view the moon from the Truman Balcony. Later, Carter took the telescope to Camp David for Thanksgiving, likely continuing his stargazing.

Carter’s passion for astronomy also found expression in his poetry. In a work titled “Considering the Void,” he pondered the vastness of the universe, depicting stars, planets, comets, and black holes with a blend of awe and apprehension. “It troubles me,” he wrote, alluding to an existential struggle regarding the magnitude of the cosmos and humanity’s place within it.

Perhaps Carter’s most lasting contribution to the exploration of the universe resides aboard NASA’s Voyager spacecraft. Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 carry golden records with sounds and images from Earth, including a message from Carter. “This is a present from a small distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts, and our feelings,” he wrote. “We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope someday, having resolved the challenges we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations.”

As Voyager continues its journey through interstellar space, Carter’s words stand as a testament to his hope and vision for humanity—a small but significant message from Earth, launched into the vast unknown. While the likelihood of extraterrestrial life encountering the spacecraft is minimal, Carter’s legacy as a man who gazed at the stars lives on, reminding us of the limitless curiosity and resolve that characterize the human spirit.