Earthrise

[In celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing, I am re-posting some previous entries inspired by some of NASA's achievements. - CK]

Until the Apollo missions with NASA in the late 1960s and early 1970s, we had not seen the earth from the vantage point of space. We did not know how blue and beautiful we were from afar. For the first time, we saw an image of one earth. It was different from those world maps we had seen in geography textbooks, or the globes that sat in the classrooms. Those were contrived by artists and showed divisions, countries, and boundaries. For the first time, we saw through the astronaut’s lens a single, beautiful, living thing – a lovely oasis of life illuminated in the darkness of space. Though we did not feel it down on the ground, with all our conflicts and divisions, we could see it in that photo taken from the moon.

Even now, all these years later, it is difficult to realize what was seen so clearly from space. We are one planet, one people, one life, one earth. We indeed have a treasure to celebrate and preserve.



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Seeing the World from Space

"One of the astronauts said, when we originally went to the moon, our total focus was on the moon. We weren't thinking about looking back at the earth. But now that we've done it, that very well may be the most important reason we went."

                                              ~ David Beaver, co-founder, Overview Institute

Seeing our world from the vantage-point of space was indeed a shift in our consciousness. I have written briefly about how just seeing the photos has changed our understanding of the world. Watch this short film,  The Overview Effect (19 minutes), and hear astronauts tell how their lives were profoundly changed by seeing the earth from space. 

From the video website:

On the 40th anniversary of the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph taken of Earth from space, Planetary Collective presents a short film documenting astronauts’ life-changing stories of seeing the Earth from the outside – a perspective-altering experience often described as the Overview Effect.

The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronauts’ perspective of the planet and mankind’s place upon it. Common features of the experience are a feeling of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.

‘Overview’ is a short film that explores this phenomenon through interviews with five astronauts who have experienced the Overview Effect. The film also features insights from commentators and thinkers on the wider implications and importance of this understanding for society, and our relationship to the environment.

One World, One Love: Playing for Change

Bob Marley's inspirational words were presented beautifully by singers from around the world in the documentary, Playing for Change: Peace Through Music. This is just one selection from an uplifting film.

For more information about the Playing for Change Foundation, visit their website at http://playingforchange.com/

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Earthrise

Until the Apollo missions with NASA in the late 1960s and early 1970s, we had not seen the earth from the vantage point of space. We did not know how blue and beautiful we were from afar. For the first time we saw an image of one earth. It was different from those world maps we had seen in geography textbooks, or the globes that sat in the classrooms. Those were contrived by artists and showed divisions, countries, and boundaries. For the first time, we saw through the astronaut’s lens a single, beautiful, living thing – a lovely oasis of life illuminated in the darkness of space. Though we did not feel it down on the ground, with all our conflicts and divisions, we could see it in that photo taken from the moon.

Even now, all these years later, it is difficult to realize what was seen so clearly from space. We are one planet, one people, one life, one earth. We indeed have a treasure to celebrate and preserve.



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