Overview effect

As the Overview Effect, the phenomenon is described that experience Spaceman, when they see for the first time the planet Earth from the space. The term was coined by the homonymous book by Frank White from 1987. The overview effect is described as an experience that changed the perspective on the planet earth and the living out humanity. Basic features include a sense of awe, a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of all life on Earth, and a new sense of responsibility for our environment.

Background

The astronauts on the first manned lunar mission, Apollo 8 were the first people who saw the world in overall sight. On December 24, 1968, astronaut William Anders made ​​( unplanned) the first photo of the Earth ( " Earthrise " ) from this distance. The last date overall view of the earth had the astronauts of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, this was also the world-famous photo " Blue Marble ". From the International Space Station only a partial view of the world is possible.

Book

In the appeared in the 1987 book "The Overview Effect" by Frank White crew members describe some space missions ( such as Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Malcolm Scott Carpenter, Eugene Cernan, Michael Collins, Russell Louis Schweickart, Edgar Mitchell, Anatoly Nikolayevich Beresowoi, Marc Garneau, Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Loren Wilber Acton, Bonnie Jeanne Dunbar, Tamara Elizabeth Jernigan, Albert Sacco ) that profound and comprehensive effect of the sight of the earth has triggered at them.

Film

End of 2012, a short documentary "Overview" appeared under the direction of Guy Reid. It includes interviews with the astronauts Edgar Mitchell, Ron Garan, Nicole Stott, Jeff Hoffman and Shane Kimbrough. To get the word also author of " The Overview Effect", Frank White, as well as the Zen philosopher David Loy.

Quotes

" When we look down at the Earth from space we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet - it looks like a living, breathing organism. But it so, at the sametime, looks extremely fragile. "..." Anybody else Who Has been out at space says the same thing, Because it really is striking, and is really sobering, to see this paper thin layer and to realize thatthis little paper thin layer is all that protects every living thing on earth from death, of basically, from the harshness of space " (German: ". , if we look down on the earth from outer space, we see these amazing, indescribably beautiful planet -. . looking like a living, breathing organism, but at the same time it looks very vulnerable, " ... " Anyone who was in space again, says the same thing, because it is very striking, very sobering that these paper-thin layer ( atmosphere preserved ) every living being on earth before death, before the unreality of space. " ) "

" ... You only see the boundaries of nature from there ... not thosethat are manmade. " ... "It is one of the deepest, most emotional experiences I have ever had. " (Engl.: " ... from up there you see only the natural limits ... not set up by the people. "..." This was one of the deepest, most emotional experiences I've ever had. ) "

" ... I had Studied astronomy and cosmology and I had Studied fully Understood did the molecules in my body and the molecules in my partners and bodies in the space craft had been prototyped in the generation of stars. And it had been Obvious from Those descriptions: we are stardust. And this was pretty awesome and powerful. "(Eng. I studied astronomy and cosmology and fully understood that the molecules in my body, in my body, and colleagues in the spaceship had their precursors in the formation of stars. From this description it was me clear that we are stardust. that was a very powerful, uplifting experience. ) "