Monday, December 24, 2018

Apollo 8 and the Overview Effect: Part Two

Many contemporary commentators on the Overview Effect imply that it began with the Earthrise photo. They say things like, "When humans first saw the Earth from space..." as if it was at that moment on the Apollo 8 mission that the Overview Effect became a reality.

In fact, it was on the Apollo 8 mission that we first saw the whole Earth from space in an image sent to us by astronauts (there had been some less remarkable photos sent by probes that were not piloted).
However, strictly speaking, the first true experience of the Overview Effect took place when Yuri Gagarin went into orbit in 1961.

However, this perception is a testimony to how powerful this image really is. The iconic picture snapped by Bill Anders, with a little help from his fellow crew members, has taken its place among media that have reshaped our views of ourselves and our place in the universe. Alongside that photo is "the Blue Marble" picture shot by the Apollo 17 crew in 1972 and the "pale blue dot" image transmitted to us by the Voyager I spacecraft in 1990.

In terms of impact, "Earthrise" has been highly significant. At a recent conference in the Netherlands, Big History expert Fred Spier gave a talk on how the photo was received in the United States and abroad. He also told us that it changed his life and set him on the path of attempting to grasp "the big picture" ever since.

A few days ago, four astronauts and their colleagues held a celebration of Earthrise at the Kennedy Space Center and launched the Constellation Foundation and its new project, "Earth2068." The Overview Effect has been  referenced as an inspiration for the event and Nicole Stott and Ron Garan, two astronauts who were interviewed for my book, are founders. (Ron wrote the foreword to the third edition of The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution and Nicole has written the foreword to the fourth edition.)

These are just a couple of the ways that Earthrise has influenced subsequent events since that difficult year, 1968. We have just gone through another difficult year for many people on Spaceship Earth. However, speaking as one who experienced both 1968 and 2018, can I say our world is better because of that photo?

Yes!

Copyright, Frank White, 2018, All Rights Reserved

The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution is available at aiaa.org and amazon.com 


The New Camelot: the Quest for the Overview Effect is available at Apogee Prime




http://www.cgpublishing.com/prime/bookpages/9781926837383.html



Friday, December 21, 2018

Apollo 8 and the Overview Effect: Part One

As many of you are aware, this week marks the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 8 mission to the moon. Much of the attention is focused on the amazing "Earthrise" photo taken by astronaut Bill Anders, in which the Earth appears to rise above the lunar surface. It is a startling reversal of our usual perception, where the moon rises above the terrestrial surface.

However, there was another important moment on that mission, at least in terms of the Overview Effect. That was on the way to the moon, when the astronauts turned their video camera around to show us a somewhat blurry picture of the whole Earth. It was the first time in history that human beings had seen the Earth from that vantage point and then shared it with their fellows back on the planet. It was not the first time the Overview Effect had been experienced, but it marked a new phase in the evolution of our consciousness as a result of space exploration.

I was in London at the time, after a terrible year for the United States. In 1968, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated, our cities were in flames, and the war in Vietnam went from bad to worse. At that moment when the astronauts showed us our planet as a unified whole, not as a chaotic and divisive place, I felt hope for the first time in quite a while. I didn't fully understand why, but as 1968 drew to a close, I began to look forward to 1969.

Today, after 50 years of thinking about that moment, I believe I am just beginning to understand how profound it really was.

More later!

Copyright, Frank White, 2018, All Rights Reserved

The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution is available at aiaa.org and amazon.com 


The New Camelot: the Quest for the Overview Effect is available at Apogee Prime




http://www.cgpublishing.com/prime/bookpages/9781926837383.html


Thursday, December 13, 2018

A Historic Day

Make no mistake about it: Virgin Galactic's flight today is a BIG DEAL. It means that we are closer than ever to the moment when any one of us might be able to experience the Overview Effect directly and completely. I believe we will look back at this day with some of the same sense that history was being made as we have over the past 60 years of other amazing achievements in spaceflight.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/13/virgin-galactic-flight-could-send-first-astronauts-to-edge-of-space.html


Virgin's two pilots on the Unity spacecraft became astronauts by reaching an altitude officially designated as "space." They are the first human beings to do so on a private, or non-governmental, spacecraft. More important, however, is what comes next, when Sir Richard Branson and his team begin flying the hundreds of people who have signed up to take a suborbital hop, experience weightlessness, and see the Earth from a distance. So far, some 550 government employees and/or a few private citizens have had this fantastic experience of the Overview Effect, a cognitive shift in worldview that takes place when one sees the Earth from space or in space.


I believe, and many others have come to believe, that when this takes place on a large scale, life on our planet will begin to change in fundamental ways. Our world will change because our worldview will change.


I had the privilege of interviewing Sir Richard Branson, who founded Virgin Galactic, for the third edition of The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution. He made it clear in our conversation that he wants to "democratize space" and give everyone the opportunity to have this extraordinary experience. As he said, "Space travel needs a new birth, because governments can only go so far with things, and if we can tap into the desire to go into space, incredible things can come from it."


https://www.amazon.com/Overview-Effect-Exploration-Evolution-Library/dp/162410262X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544743508&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Overview+Effect


Incredible things indeed!


Copyright, Frank White, 2018, All Rights Reserved


The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution is available at aiaa.org and amazon.com 


The New Camelot: the Quest for the Overview Effect is available at Apogee Prime




http://www.cgpublishing.com/prime/bookpages/9781926837383.html