Stills of astronaut's views of the earth from space, a film on Vimeo by Planetary Collective, to watch yourself click here.
Click to make large - so beautiful
The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronaut's 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.
"…Every two minutes a picture of the earth, the moon, the sun and a 360 degree panorama of the heavens appeared in the space craft window, and i had studied astronomy and i had studied cosmology and fully understood that the molecules in my body and the molecules in my partners body and in the space craft had been prototyped into summation generation stars, in other words it was pretty obvious from those descriptions we're stardust. "
Edgar Mitchell Apollo Astronaut
"There's this very poetic concept that a lot of people express that there are no boundaries from space, and i've heard a lot of my colleagues say it and fortunately that's not true. You do see boundaries and thats mostly from human impact, you can see erosions, clear cutting of forests, and its a long litany of environmental impact that we've had on our planet and that something that when you see it from the cosmic perspective makes you really appreciate the concept of spaceship earth, i mean we're all here together."
Jeff Hoffman Shuttle Astronaut
The separation between us as a species, every other living thing on the planet and the earth needs to change.
Similar to the issues of sustainability, we as designers bridge the link between creating and consuming, like the astronauts we have an overview like no one else.
This is the only known planet that can hold life like ours, with a very thin layer keeping us from the harshness of space.
It's images like these that remind me how small we are compared to the entirety of earth, which in itself is a reminder of how important the subject of sustainability is.
We have an obligation to care about making a difference, spread the importance to treat this whole planet as one, working together.
