I don't know about you, but I breathed a sigh of relief this week when the space shuttle Discovery safely touched down. That is, until I read about the view that Commander Eileen Collins and her crew had from the shuttle's windows.
We are all so used to reading about the marvelous views of Earth that the astronauts are privileged to see. Astronaut Laurel Clark, while aboard the ill-fated space shuttle Columbia, wrote of her awesome view of the Earth below, "...lightning spreading over the Pacific, rivers breaking through tall mountain passes...a crescent moon setting over the limb of our blue planet."
And remember Edgar Mitchell, an Apollo 14 astronaut and sixth man to walk on the moon? He had a life transforming experience as a result of his view from space. From the moon, Ed Mitchell gazed at the Earth, hanging like a jewel among the stars. This experience changed his life and he left his career as an astronaut and naval officer to found the Institute of Noetic Sciences.
Well, this time around, Commander Collins did not wax poetic over the view from the Discovery. Instead, she reported widespread environmental destruction, including vast areas of erosion and deforestation. She also brought attention to the Earth's fragile atmosphere, which is so thin that "...it looks like an eggshell on an egg...we know that we don't have much air, we need to protect what we have."
Until now, we humans have depended on our local knowledge. Our view from our homes or from the windows of our cars as we travel about. We read about global warming but it never quite hits home. Until now.
The Discovery astronauts are our eyes in the sky. The scale of environmental damage must certainly be huge for them to see evidence of it so clearly.
We can't be complacent any longer. As Hannah Moore so eloquently wrote, "...one drop of water helps to swell the ocean; a spark of fire helps to give light to the world. None are too small, too feeble, too poor to be of service. Think of this and act."
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