tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67943070323960148662023-11-15T05:56:03.386-08:00The Overview EffectThis blog monitors developments relevant to the Overview Effect and comments on them from the perspective of "overview thinking."Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-2185343617824085872021-03-16T06:47:00.001-07:002021-03-16T06:47:16.227-07:00We Are the "New Astronaut Corps"<p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 32px; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;">Recently, I entered a contest called the Inspiration4 Mission that will take four people into orbit on a SpaceX flight, possibly by the end of this year. It will be the first all-civilian spaceflight in history and at least four members of the Overview Effect community have applied for it (MaryLiz Bender, Loretta Whitesides, Sian Proctor, and me).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 32px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"> Although we are technically competing for a seat on the flight, we have been supporting one another in this quest and I think it must be very much like NASA’s astronaut corps (and the situation with other national space programs): everyone wants a mission, but if your friend is selected, you are happy for them. In fact, I might not have been able to enter the contest if it hadn’t been for MaryLiz. Part of the entry process is posting a video to Twitter about why you want to go. Twitter kept rejecting my video and I needed a lot of help from MaryLiz to find the right file format. That is what I mean by cooperation!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 32px; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;">It has occurred to me that “We are the new astronaut corps.” By that, I don’t mean only those of us who have applied for this contest, but <i>everyone</i> who has ever dreamed of leaving the Earth and experiencing the Overview Effect. Nothing really stands in our way at this point except funding, either by individuals or organizations like Space for Humanity. It truly is a new era.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 32px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"> For more information, here is a link to the Inspiration4 website:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 32px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"> https://inspiration4.com<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"> </span></p>Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-17071853657116055132020-10-14T04:03:00.010-07:002020-10-19T10:04:20.400-07:00Why We Must Go<p>The question is no longer if humanity should expand into other parts of the solar system, but only how we undertake this critical migration. We have to do it right and we need to do it soon.</p><p>We must be clear in doing so that <i>some of us will be leaving planet Earth, but we are not leaving it behind.</i></p><p>We must also be clear that we are doing so to save our beautiful, wonderful home planet, not to abandon her.</p><p>This has become undeniable to me in reading the 30-year update to the seminal work from 1972, <i>Limits to Growth </i>(1)<i>, </i>and a new book by geographer Chris Tucker, <i>A Planet of Three Billion </i>(2)<i>.</i></p><p><i>Limits to Growth </i>used systems thinking and computer modeling to suggest that human civilization was reaching a phase called "overshoot" where the carrying capacity of the Earth could no longer support us in the direction we were taking. In the newest edition, which was published in 2004, the authors say that we are now in overshoot mode and cannot avoid a collapse without dialing back our demands on planet Earth.</p><p>Tucker uses his analysis to calculate that the Earth can support a population of three billion people, which means we are far beyond the ideal number, with no end in sight.</p><p>As far as I can tell, neither book mentions space development as part of a solution to the dilemma we face.</p><p>However, visionary Gerard K. O'Neill did. He was deeply concerned by the conclusions reached in <i>Limits </i>and it propelled him to create his idea of free-standing space communities between the Earth and the Moon. He proposed moving not only people but also heavy industry off the planet and returning it to a more sustainable state (3).</p><p>In the 1970s, the environmental movement and the space movement had not yet split and thinkers like Stewart Brand clearly understood that pictures of the whole Earth from orbit or the Moon would contribute to environmental awareness. Today, this image is understood as the Overview Effect. This is the consciousness we must take to the Moon, Mars, and beyond if we are to avoid the mistakes we have made on Earth. We must also do everything we can to mitigate the problems we have created on this planet, but some of us also must go.</p><p>The Overview Effect tells us that we are all in this together and we must work cooperatively to create a positive human future on Earth and in other parts of the solar system. The space movement and environmental movement must heal the breach between them and work together for the good of the planet and all life on it. Environmentalists: please expand your vision to include other parts of the solar system! We need your help to do this right.</p><p>There is much more to say, but for now, this is enough. This is why we must go.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Notes</b></p><p>(1) Donella Meadows, J. Randers, Dennis Meadows, <i>Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update, </i>Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, VT, 2004.</p><p>(2) C. Tucker, <i>A Planet of 3 Billion</i>, Atlas Observatory Press, 2019.</p><p>(3) G. K. O'Neill, <i>The High Frontier, </i>William Morrow & Co. 1976.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>(c) Copyright, Frank White, 2020, All Rights Reserved</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-52647849831479778622020-09-14T07:36:00.002-07:002020-10-20T14:53:56.005-07:00Isaac and I<span style="font-family: georgia;">My writing career has been marked with many ups and downs, an experience that is familiar to most authors. One of the high points was the opportunity, during the 1990s, to co-author two books with Isaac Asimov, one of the writers whose work had a great influence on me. Like many of us who are fascinated by space exploration, robots and androids, as well as the future in general, I was an avid consumer of science fiction from an early age. I'm pretty sure the first science fiction novel I ever read had been written by Isaac. In any event, I eventually graduated to <i>I, Robot, Caves of Steel, Foundation, </i>and much, much more.<br />
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In the case of the first co-authored book, <i>Think About Space</i>, I was hired to write the initial draft, with Isaac following up with major edits (or so we assumed). The publisher had agreed, as I recall, that we would be co-authors, which was enough for me, though the pay was pretty small. As it turned out, Isaac thought the first draft was so good that I should get full credit as the sole author, something the publisher did not want to do. So Isaac did add edits to the draft, and I was given co-author credit with him, which was a great honor for me.<br />
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When it came to the second book, <i>March of the Millennia, </i>the situation was almost completely reversed. Isaac had written the first draft and I was asked to edit it. I put a lot of work into it, but did not expect Isaac to be so generous a second time. However, he requested that I be listed as co-author of that book as well!<br />
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I have found that the successful people of this world are often quite humble and very generous to others. So I have done my best to emulate that approach in thought and action with people whom I have met over the years. (I realize that I did not know Isaac well, and I am not trying to write a biography of him; I am focusing only on his kindness to me and his talent as a writer.)</span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">In July of 2018, Rob Godwin, the founder and owner of Apogee Space Books, and I were asked to speak to an online science fiction book club founded by John Grayshaw, director of the Middletown Public Library in Middletown, PA.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">We were sent questions, which we then answered, and the session was published on Facebook. If you would like to see the entire transcript, including Rob's answers, just check out the Middletown Library website.</span><br />
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">Science Fiction Book Club<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">Interview with Frank White and Rob Godwin, July 2018<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">Frank White Answers</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Q: Because of ambiguity in human language, there is almost always a disconnect between the intended meaning of a rule and the interpretation of a rule. This is evident in Asimov's three rules of robotics. The rules are written using high-level, ambiguous language. They are moralistic and idealistic rather than formulaic. But they are interpreted very strictly by the robots. Did Asimov intentionally design the laws of robotics this way at the outset, to use the ambiguity between the intended meaning of the rule and the rigid interpretation of the rule as a thematic/plot device? Or did his themes surrounding these rules develop after he came up with the rules? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span face="">FW: I am not sure of the answer, but I think it is a bit of both. It seems to me that the key is this: the rules can contradict one another in real situations, which leads to interesting plot twists. I doubt that he saw all the potential issues when he laid out the rules, though he could see ahead to some of them. As he wrote, the results evolved, which is usually true with any form of fiction.</span></i><span face=""><br /><br />Q: Rigid interpretation of the rules in Asimov's stories often leads to dire consequences. Were the rules intended to show that common sense must be an ingredient for laws to function properly?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">FW: I believe so. Actually, we humans are not so different than the robots. We have laws (rules) that we try to obey, but then we have real situations to consider. For example, “Thou Shalt Not Kill” seems straightforward, but if an intruder breaks into your home at night, what do you do? Well, then we have more laws about that, and perhaps we get into self-defense. But what if the intruder did not have a gun? And so on.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Q: Will robots in the future actually follow Asimov’s laws? Did Asimov believe they would? Or was it just good for storytelling? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">FW: People involved with artificial intelligence research (AI) bring up Asimov’s Laws all the time. There seems to be a feeling that he has done as good a job as any in creating robots we do not have to fear. But then, the same thing happens in reality as in the stories. It gets complicated and everyone says, “We need something better.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Q: Why did Asimov move away from Foundation series and Robot Series after the late 50s and why did he return to it in the 80s.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">FW: I don’t know, but as a writer, I can speculate. Topics for writing fiction bubble up from the subconscious and they can have a lot of momentum for a long time and then they dry up, only to reemerge later. That may have happened. Also, writers pick up on the environment of the time and the 80s might have been more conducive to those topics in the 80s than in the 60s and 70s.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Q: What was the inspiration for the development of robots? How did he come up with the 3, and ultimately 4, robotic laws? Did he plan for the underlying plot with the robots in the full series of Foundation or was it something that developed as the story developed. And along that line, was Foundation planned all the way through to its conclusion or was that developed as each book was published? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span face="">FW: I have an answer to the first question, but not to the others. Regarding the first question, I interviewed Asimov for my book, </span></i><span face="">The SETI Factor, in 1989. <i>The book is out of print, but most of the interview is in the book and you might find it interesting. I suggested that humans had evolved from automatically fearing aliens to being more comfortable with them. He said “I hope you’re right. Our experience rests in the European exploration of the world, in which we enslaved the natives we found and then killed them off. We expect the aliens to be as bad as the Europeans were, but have now learned that it isn’t right to kill off natives or even an endangered species.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">So he saw our fear of aliens as being a projection of our own worst behavior and as we behaved better, our projections became more benign. Anyway, he did not want to write science fiction that showed aliens as evil. That is what led to the robots. Here is a footnote from the book: “In an interview with the author, Asimov explained that John Campbell, perhaps the most important science fiction editor at the time, mandated that humans should always win out over extraterrestrials in any conflicts or competitions they might have. Asimov did not want to cooperate with this dictum, so he created two series that had no extraterrestrials in them.” These were, of course, the Foundation series and the robot series. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span face="">Regarding the whole question of planning, I would share my experience, once again, as a writer. I wrote a novel many years ago about contact with extraterrestrials called </span></i><span face="">Decision: Earth. <i>As I continued writing it, I became increasingly more interested in what I called at the time “Computer agents.” These were AIs like the Siris or Alexas of today. I didn’t plan it, but it just happened. I don’t know if Isaac planned it out or if it evolved, but I suspect the latter.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Q: Did he start out with the intention of connecting so many of his novels into one universe?<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">FW: Again, I don’t know, but he probably started out thinking of them separately and then saw the value of connecting them.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Q: Would he have identified more with the spacers or those that remained behind on Earth? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span face="">FW: A great question. If I am right that he was agoraphobic, I think he would have identified with those who stayed on Earth. Also, the writing implies a certain degree of skepticism regarding how dependent the Spacers become on their robots. They were somewhat like slave owners, I think.</span></i><span face=""><br /><br /><u><span style="color: blue;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Q: Is anyone planning on reissuing the books Asimov on Science Fiction and/or Asimov's Galaxy: Reflections on Science Fiction, or at least some of the essays in these two books? Asimov is known for his essays as well as his science fiction, but I think some of his most interesting essays are on the subject of science fiction itself.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">FW: I don’t know. Walker Publishing, which published the two books I co-authored with him, had plans for reissuing a lot of his work when he died. I was supposed to help them with the project and was saddened at his passing for so many reasons, but partially because it meant that initiative would not happen.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: georgia;"> </span></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Q: I’m a big fan and have read all of his SF---most, several times. Would you consider him as a better writer of engaging human characters, or engaging robotic characters? Why were his stories relatively “dry” of emotion and pathos?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">FW: I think he was better at creating robot characters than at creating human characters. As I read more and more of his Foundation work, it seemed to me that the robots were evolving and becoming better than humans. Perhaps he intended this to be the case. In any event, he was first and foremost a scientist and he may have felt more comfortable with rationality more than with emotion.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><i><span style="font-family: georgia; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br clear="all" style="break-before: page;" /></span></i><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></i></p></div>Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-58750379383192379842020-06-08T10:44:00.002-07:002020-06-08T10:44:29.223-07:00Are We Really All in this Together?It has taken me some time to return to blogging because I have been watching and listening to what is going on in American cities, and asking myself how I could say something different from all that has been said by so many in the past week.<br />
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Let me give it a try. Many of my recent blog posts have been about the remarkable synchronicity between the astronauts saying, "We're all in this together" when they view the Earth from orbit or the Moon, and a variety of people saying it in regard to the COVID crisis. There did seem to be a remarkable display of unity globally for about a month at the beginning of the massive shutdown that was implemented to slow the spread of the virus. However, in the US at least, that consensus began to fray as the lockdown continued. We began to have people demanding their rights to open their businesses and go where they wanted to go, with or without masks. Opposing them, we had people supporting even more stringent controls and shaming those who did not want to go along with the plan.<br />
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This division became political, as "Red States" began opening up and "Blue States" stayed shut down. President Trump supported the "liberation," as he put it, of certain states and the Democrats decried his actions. I suppose all of this was predictable and it reminded me of what happened when Sputnik was launched, but that is a topic for another blog.<br />
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Suddenly, though, COVID was pushed away as protests began over the death of George Floyd. Anyone who saw the video of a cop's knee on Mr. Floyd's neck and heard the cries of "I can't breathe" had to be outraged by the incident. It soon became a symbol of oppression of African Americans by police and the marches began in every major city, and around the world.<br />
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As the protests began, SpaceX launched its Dragon Crew Capsule and it flew flawlessly to the International Space Station. The space community had been waiting for this event for years and wanted to celebrate, but it was hard to do, given the circumstances on the surface of the planet.<br />
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Now, there are articles being written suggesting that NASA's hope for the flight to generate some kind of unity in troubled times was misplaced. While many of us have compared this moment with 1968, another difficult year that ended with Apollo 8 and Earthrise, some commentators are arguing that it did not unify us and didn't improve things. If it had, wouldn't we be better off now?<br />
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Regardless of how that particular debate works out, one could easily say, "No, we are not all in this together. Isn't it obvious?"<br />
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But we need to make a distinction in the meaning of the statement.<br />
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When an astronaut says something like "We're all in this together," they are stating an objective fact. It is similar to "If you jump out of a window, you will hit the ground." The space traveler perceives the Earth as a whole, interconnected system, of which we are a part. The actions each of us takes affects every other person and the fate of our planet is the fate of all living things on it. This reality that we are part of a whole system is as real as the law of gravity.<br />
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When a surface dweller looks at COVID and realizes the same interconnectedness because the virus threatens everybody, she or he briefly has "astronaut awareness," but it does not mean that we are all going to act in unity and harmony in the face of this realization. Our goal must be that we move into alignment with the objective fact of interconnectedness with our actions on the ground. The astronauts do not see an "other" from orbit, but it sometimes seems that we are attuned to seeing only that when we are on the Earth. Aligning our experience on the Earth with the objective reality seen by the astronauts is the next step in understanding the deep meaning of the Overview Effect.<br />
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<br />Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-72170351111140224152020-04-17T10:11:00.002-07:002020-04-18T03:43:42.516-07:00"We're All in this Together:" Part Six: Threats and Opportunities<div class="formatted" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 12.4pt; margin: 0in 10.05pt 0.0001pt 22.5pt; orphans: auto; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0in; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">I really believe that if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance of...100,000 miles, their outlook would be fundamentally changed. That all-important border would be invisible, that noisy argument suddenly silenced. The tiny globe would continue to turn, serenely ignoring its subdivision, presenting a united facade that would cry out for unified treatment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0in;">Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">What might be some positive lessons learned from the impact of the COVID Effect on global society?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">One of the most important is that humanity, when we are united to response to a threat or opportunity, can achieve an enormous amount in a short period of time. A recently published essay by Charles Eisenstein makes this point in great depth. (1)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">In the United States, we have already learned this lesson in the past, but seem to have forgotten it. For example, the US was deeply divided between isolationists and interventionists regarding the wars raging in Europe and the Pacific, until Pearl Harbor. Although much of the American Navy was destroyed in the attack, the nation rallied, rebuilt, and helped to win a world war in four years. Contrast that with the 20-year war in Afghanistan, which is still not quite over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">In response to the Soviet Union’s launching of the Sputnik satellite in 1957 and then the launching of the first human into orbit in 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced that the US would send a man to the moon and return him safely to Earth before the end of the decade. At the time, no one had any idea how to do that, but with a clear mission and a sense of urgency, NASA accomplished the goal, in spite of a stand down after a terrible fire killed three astronauts and in the wake of the president’s assassination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">In response to COVID, the Earth’s population has acted <i>as a species</i>, perhaps for the first time ever. The phrase of the astronauts, “We’re all in this Together” is stated as a self-evident truth...though it was not so clear even a month ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Maybe you like the Green New Deal, maybe you hate it. However, one criticism of it was that <i>we simply could not do it</i>; it was impractical to make such a massive change in our economy and society in time to “flatten the curve” of climate change. And what would we do to support all the people thrown out of work by the radical changes envisioned in the Deal?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Well, a lot of what we have done in the past month, like reducing the amount of fossil fuel use, and helping people who are unemployed because of the lockdown, look a lot like that proposal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Perhaps we should do it, perhaps we shouldn’t, but we can no longer say we <i>can’t </i>do it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">It seems that humans only respond to threats or opportunities, doesn’t it? If the threat is large enough and immediate enough, we will overcome our differences and respond. If the opportunity is large enough and immediate enough, we will respond. The differences don’t go away, but they are submerged long enough to react to whatever has suddenly claimed our attention.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Humanity, for good or ill, is the most powerful species on Spaceship Earth. We hold the fate of so many other living things in our hands. The virus has taught us a critical lesson, if we are only willing to learn it and act on it: we can use this enormous power for enormous good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">(1) <span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">https://charleseisenstein.org/essays/the-coronation/<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-43583705447423631042020-04-12T12:01:00.002-07:002020-04-12T13:50:47.362-07:00"We're All in this Together: Part Five:" What is Humanity's Mission?<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 32px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<i><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Note: It’s Easter and a time when we tend to think of death and rebirth, regardless of our faith tradition. Our world is experiencing a lot of deaths right now, the passing of truly innocent victims. My emphasis on lessons learned is not to ignore the sacrifices that are taking place today, but to honor them by doing our best to avoid similar catastrophes in the future.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">The pandemic is challenging us to think about viruses, and ourselves, in new ways. How do we get a handle on something that has, to our knowledge, never before happened in human history? By that, I mean something that affects every human being on planet Earth and something that threatens every one of us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Interestingly, astronauts have been weighing in on this question, comparing what is happening with COVID to their experiences on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. On April 11, during a virtual version of Yuri’s Night, Chris Hadfield addressed this issue with a short video and a conversation with Loretta Whitesides. (1)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">As he and other astronauts noted during Yuri’s Night and elsewhere, self-isolation is one aspect of the two situations that is very similar. Typically, there might be six astronauts on the ISS and they are physically isolated from the seven billion people on Earth, including their family members. As is the case for those of us in isolation during the pandemic, they have an ability to communicate with people on the planet, but not to visit them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> A second similar element is the pervasive sense of danger that a space mission and the COVID virus engender in us. Astronauts are in a shirt-sleeve environment on the ISS, but, as Hadfield noted, they know that a micrometeorite might penetrate the hull at any moment. While their safety is being monitored by mission control personnel around the world, the harsh environment of outer space will be unforgiving if anything goes wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Like us, the astronauts have to don protective clothing if they go outside. Even more than inside the Shuttle or ISS, danger is ever present on a spacewalk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Finally, Hadfield pointed out that uncertainty is a big part of the experience. Astronauts leave the Earth on spacecraft and expect to return on a certain date, but that is not always the way things turn out. For example, we are currently marking the 50<sup>th</sup>anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, which was supposed to be the third lunar landing of the Apollo era. However, something went terribly wrong on the way to the Moon and getting the astronauts home safely became the actual mission. The same has happened with the Shuttle and ISS expeditions. Unexpected events can lengthen or shorten flights into orbit or the Moon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Like the astronauts, too, Hadfield said that we are being taken out of our ordinary daily lives and given a unique experience. He said that Yuri Gagarin and most astronauts who followed him felt compelled to share the meaning of the spaceflight experience, which has come to be called “the Overview Effect.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">These similarities are striking and may give us a start at developing language to understand what I have begun calling “the COVID Effect.” (2) But what stood out for me the most was that Hadfield also said that each of us should ask ourselves “what is our mission” during this unique time; "what do we want to accomplish?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">In another video, he noted that sending a crew to the ISS is designated as an “expedition” because you are a “small group of people doing something that has elevated risk in a very different environment...” (3)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">So maybe we ought to consider this period of lockdown and social distancing as a period of time with a purpose, an expedition. Just as astronauts experience the Overview Effect when they are in outer space and return with a new worldview, maybe we will experience the COVID Effect during this time and emerge with a new perspective on ourselves, our planet, and our place in the universe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">The big difference between us, as “astronauts of Spaceship Earth” and astronauts like Chris Hadfield is that we did not know our mission when all of this began. We have to define it while we are in the middle of the expedition. Unlike a professional astronaut, who carries out a mission that has already been assigned to them, we get to choose the meaning of this experience, the nature of humanity’s mission. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">What do you think it might be?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">(1) <span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">You can watch the video and conversation between Chris and Loretta, as well as the entire Yuri’s Night program here: https://www.space.com/yuris-night-2020-human-spaceflight-webcast.html<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">(2) <span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">I have resisted using this term, because I don’t want to be seen as creating new “Effects” to go with the Overview Effect. However, it really seems to fit the situation, so I am using it, but sparingly. If people find it valuable and it helps to move the conversation along, that will be a great benefit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">(3) <span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Here is a link to the other Hadfield video, which is excellent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtd3rwDLn7E<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Stay Safe.Stay Strong.Stay Connected </span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> </span></span></div>
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Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-33400552747539444842020-03-28T17:32:00.000-07:002020-03-29T14:05:00.426-07:00"We're All in this Together": Part Four<br />
<span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>"</i>You can't see the boundaries over which we fight wars, and in a very real way, the inhabitants of this Earth are stuck on a very beautiful, lovely little planet in an incredibly hostile space, and everybody is in the same boat."</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">---Former Astronaut Don Lind, in <i>The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span><span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 17px;">"We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented ... all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other."</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 17px;">---Pope Francis, delivering the Urbi et Orbi address to an empty St. Peter's Square (NPR, 3/28/20)</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 17px;">As I have mentioned in earlier blog posts on this subject, the message that "We're all in this together," or "We're all in the same boat," is something of a mantra by astonauts when they return home after seeing our planet from space and in space. From orbit or the moon, they experience the interconnectedness of all life on Earth and realize that we cannot ignore this connection. It is real and it has real implications. This is the essence of the Overview Effect.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 17px;">The message is coming through to us with great clarity now that we are threatened by the coronavirus. It's ironic that we have difficulty absorbing the information from our fellow human beings, but an invisible co-inhabitant of the planet has gotten through to us loud and clear.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 17px;">The astronaut mantra has now become everybody's mantra, from Pope Francis to <i>People </i>magazine. Although there have been tensions between countries and even among the various states in the US, it has been heartening to see how people have come together to face this crisis and to "row together," in the Pope's words. We can only hope that some of the spirit of unity persists once we move to a more "normal" system state at some point in the future.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 17px;">Similarly, the global lockdown that has reduced travel dramatically has had an impact that can be seen clearly by satellites in Earth orbit. As just one example, the pollution that represented a major health hazard in China not long ago, is noticeably absent in pictures taken from space during the pause that has emerged in response to COVID-19:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 17px;">https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-changes-pollution-over-china.html</span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16.100000381469727px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">As we know after centuries of experience, war is something to be avoided. However, there are moments, like this one, when it is necessary. As with any conflict, though, the lessons learned are almost as important as achieving the necessary victory.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">What are we learning from this battle? How will we use it to forge a better future on Earth and in space?</span></span></span><br />
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Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-50999693151960873122020-03-24T07:39:00.000-07:002020-03-29T14:04:07.863-07:00"We're All in this Together": Part Three<div style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "cambria" , serif;">I asked my good friend and colleague Felix Hoch to review my previous two blogs on the topic, "We're All in this Together." He did so and said his only disagreement was with the notion of the virus as the "immune system of the planet," because, as he put it, "seeing humanity as a plague further promotes a mindset of separation. I experience it more as a balancing move of the biosphere that has huge potential to facilitate and initiate global coherence in the noosphere."</span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><br />As is always the case, Felix's words are full of wisdom. I hesitated using the term "immune system of the planet" because I do not see humanity as a plague and I do not want to promote a mindset of separation. However, that was the phrase that came to mind and engendered the writing of the blog post, so I had to be honest and share it as the starting point for my thinking.</span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><br />In this post, let's use Felix's phrasing that it is a "balancing move of the biosphere" and understand that it has great potential for how we view the future. In particular, I am encouraged that the astronauts' experiential understanding that "we are all in this together" is also becoming experiential for surface dwellers. The number of people repeating that phrase is growing rapidly and I have now heard it said by the Surgeon General of the United States, Bernie Sanders, CNN's Anderson Cooper, and Vice President Mike Pence. (People with quite diverse world views, as we know.)</span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><br />Moreover, "One World In Dialogue," a great online gathering place for what I would call "overview thinking," is sponsoring a global meditation on 3/29/20 titled "We're All in This Together:" https://oneworldindialogue.com/be-together/</span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><br />Coming full circle, we have this excellent article that concludes with exactly the same sentiment from astronaut Jessica Meir: https://www.thespacereview.com/article/3903/1</span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><br />If the reality of the Overview Effect, which astronauts understand so well and have been striving to communicate for so many years, now permeates global society, then this very difficult and---for many of us---tragic period, will leave humanity and the Earth with something of tremendous value.</span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><br />Stay Safe.Stay Strong.Stay Connected </span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "avenir book"; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-18731082300227813342020-03-20T13:34:00.000-07:002020-03-29T14:03:47.749-07:00"We're All in this Together": Part Two<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">“</span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">When you go above the planet, what you see is a system that is highly connected and interwoven.<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Former astronaut Sandy Magnus, in <i>The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">At the outset of this post, I want to be clear that I am not dismissing the tragic human suffering and loss of life we are experiencing during this crisis as unimportant or as a good thing. Nor am I ignoring the economic stress all of us are experiencing. I am saying, however, that the lessons we draw from this moment are very important to our future and the future of the planet.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">In an earlier version of this post, I talked about a phrase had come unbidden into my mind: “The virus is the immune system of the planet.” I supposed that happened because there have been so many discussions of human immune systems and their role in fighting off COVID-19.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">One of my friends and colleagues (Felix Hoch) gently suggested a different metaphor (see "We're All in this Together" (Part Three) and I think he was right. Also, I have just begun listening to an Audible version of an excellent book, <i>Viruses, Plagues, & History, </i>by Michael B. A. Oldstone, and I would change the phrase to "A virus is once again changing history." This is not the place to go into detail about Oldstone's thesis, but it gives the reader an "overview" of the struggle between humans and viruses over the centuries and the insight that our future is always affected by each skirmish, one way or another.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">In regard to our current situation, our species has been pushing the Earth really hard in the past 200 years. Our population has grown almost exponentially, which in turn has required greater energy use, destruction of natural habitat, and continuing challenges to the carrying capacity of the planet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Experts and activists alike have been warning of dire consequences if we don’t reverse course, reduce the use of fossil fuels, drive our different kinds of cars, use the land differently, fly less, and so on. We have indeed changed our behavior to some extent, and the messages of the astronauts about the Overview Effect have been important in that regard. However, we have resisted bold and dramatic proposals to change course.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Suddenly, in the space of a week, consider what has happened. Our entire global civilization has ground to a halt. We are not driving, we are not flying, we are not using as much energy. We are moving to alternatives that were there along, implementing telemedicine, online learning, and working from home. All of this is an inconvenience for us humans, but if you consider it from the Earth’s point of view, it’s very healthy. It is giving the planet breathing room. So the virus is not good for human health, and the pause has not been good for the economy, but the lessons learned from the pause could be good for the planet and ourselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">At this point, of course, the virus is our enemy. We have the right to self-defense and our species is mobilizing for a war, World War III if you will. However, the virus can also be our teacher. What will we learn from this period of intense combat? When COVID-19 is defeated (and it will be) will we go back to our old behaviors, pushing Spaceship Earth to the max, expecting it to adjust to us, rather than behaving like its astronauts and taking good care of it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">One very good thing has already come of this crisis, which is a level of human unity and cooperation in the face of a common enemy, the kind of thing people have imagined would be the response to an attack by aliens from outer space. Suddenly, everyone is repeating the mantra that "We're all in this together." That is not just a cliche, it is the absolute truth and it should guide our actions even when we are not in a crisis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Will we maintain today's connection and collaboration when the enemy is no longer pushing us to do so?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-10984695524154990352020-03-15T11:18:00.003-07:002020-03-29T14:02:58.622-07:00"We're All In This Together" Part One<div class="formatted" style="line-height: 12.4pt; margin: 0in 10.05pt 0.0001pt 4.5pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"You looked down and you could see how incredibly thin the Earth's atmosphere is and realize the if we pollute it, we all breathe it together, and if we are so dumb as to start a thermonuclear war, we all go together; there is no lifeboat, and everybody is in it together."</span><br />
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Having interviewed 41 astronauts for my work on the Overview Effect, I have heard one thought expressed frequently, which is: "We're all in this together." By this, the astronauts mean that when you look at the Earth from orbit or on a lunar mission, you see that it is a whole system in which everything is interconnected. There are no borders or boundaries, and whatever happens in one part of the planet will eventually have an impact on the rest of the world. </div>
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I have thought about this sentiment and quoted it often. I have also cited it in arguing that we need to adopt "Overview thinking" if we are going to tackle the multitude of challenges that face humanity as we move through the universe on our own Spaceship Earth.</div>
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While my listeners usually nod and agree with this idea, I know that it is still somewhat abstract because the global problems we are discussing rarely seem immediate. However, all that has changed with the arrival of COVID-19. As I have listened to the radio and watched television coverage of the pandemic I have frequently heard the comment that "We're all in this together." Most recently, the Surgeon General of the United States said it during an interview, Bernie Sanders repeated something like it in his debate with Joe Biden, and Vice President Pence affirmed it in a press conference.</div>
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Suddenly, we realize experientially what we know intellectually: COVID-19 has no interest in borders or boundaries and considers all of this planet its habitat. COVID goes wherever it wants to go and does whatever it wants to do. It does not care whether you are an actor, the wife of a prime minister, a government official, a healthcare worker, a plumber, or a retiree. As far as COVID is concerned, your body is a place for it to visit without asking permission. <i>Homo sapiens</i> has absolutely no immunity or defense against this invader and all that our very best medical people can do is support us through it and hope our immune systems are strong enough to resist the attack.</div>
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We are strong people and we have overcome many challenges in the past. I feel confident we will do so once again. My hope is that we will learn some lessons from this situation and adopt "Overview thinking" as the norm and not in response to the crises that will surely face us in the future.<br />
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Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-56847567415060118052020-01-11T12:19:00.000-08:002020-01-12T09:42:24.781-08:00Brian Barnett's review of The Cosma Hypothesis<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Brian Barnett, founder and CEO of Solstar Space Company, is one of the original "Overviewers," having read the first edition of <i>The Overview Effect </i>shortly after it was published. He was kind enough to write a review of <i>The Cosma Hypothesis </i>on Amazon, and I am sharing it here:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I read Frank White's Overview Effect way back in 1988. The Overview Effect was, and still is, the most important book ever written in our generation about how space travelers are changed upon returning to Earth. Those who have flown in space and have seen our beautiful blue planet hanging in the midst of the vast darkness of space feel different about how humanity sits vis-a-vis the universe. White's Cosma Hypothesis takes the Overview Effect even further out into the universe. He is the most important writer tackling this incredibly deep topic---he is one of a kind. I think with Cosma he is onto something.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17);">Thanks, Brian!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(<i>The Cosma Hypothesis</i> is available in print, and on Kindle and Audible (www.amazon.com)</span></span></div>
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Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-62472008810352519602020-01-01T11:27:00.001-08:002020-01-01T12:29:23.758-08:00Jeff Krukin's Review of The Cosma Hypothesis<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 11pt;">Jeff and I have worked in space advocacy together for many years. Among other things, he is a founding member of the Overview Institute and is now active in NewSpace. He was kind enough to read and review <i>The Cosma Hypothesis. </i>Here is his review:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 11pt;">"Do you believe that space exploration is a waste of time and money because we have so many pressing problems on Earth? Or, perhaps you support space exploration and settlement, yet are uncomfortable with the commercial aspects and potential for war in space. In either case, a different perspective might help. Frank White's new book, <i>The Cosma Hypothesis: Implications of the Overview Effect</i>, takes an expansive look at how we human beings... our daily lives, our minds, our spirituality... are connected with the Universe (Cosmos). Simply put, we are not separate from the Cosmos, and so the exploration and settlement of our solar system is not just something going on out there that has no impact on ourselves "back here."<u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 11pt;">"And I don't just mean the scientific and commercial benefits that will accrue to our societies and economies. Think bigger. Frank asks us to ponder how human activity in space not only impacts our own consciousness and self-awareness (The Overview Effect), but is essential for evolving the conscious intelligence (Frank calls this "contelligence") of the Cosmos itself. Consider this passage from the book (p.55): "As far as we know, new atoms are not constantly being created, so the evolution of the universe consists of these atoms being rearranged into increasingly more complex information processing systems. The human brain is one of those systems."<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 11pt;">"Finally, on a more practical note, Frank provides a plan for action with The Human Space Program project (not to be confused with any government's space program).<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 11pt;">"Make sense? You'll enjoy the book. Sound crazy? Read the book anyway, and see if it does something for you." <u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Earth-Space Commerce Advisors, LLC</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(<i>The Cosma Hypothesis</i> is available in print, and on Kindle and Audible (www.amazon.com)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Blog: Copyright, (c), Frank White, 2020, All Rights Reserved.</span></span></div>
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Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-41511752627105840962019-10-30T13:22:00.000-07:002019-10-30T13:22:35.191-07:00Why We Need a Human Space Program (1)<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">“This first launch of a space system designed for humans, and built and operated by a commercial company through a public-private partnership, is a revolutionary step on our path to get humans to the Moon, Mars and beyond.” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. NASA Press Release – March 2, 2019</span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">There’s no question that humans, powered by a potent combination of private enterprise and public funding, are leaving the Earth and heading out into the solar system. But are we ready, both philosophically and pragmatically, for the challenges that lie ahead?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Consider this: for years, American cities and towns have celebrated Columbus Day on October 12 of each year. Recently, there has been a shift as municipalities abandoned Columbus Day in favor of “Indigenous Peoples Day.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">This would be a story in itself but something truly remarkable happened in 2018. Columbus, Ohio, named for the 15<sup>th</sup>century explorer, also abandoned him and adopted the new terminology. What happened? How did Columbus go from being a hero to being a villain? Did he do something wrong? No, he’s been dead for a very long time, so he couldn’t have done anything to alienate even his namesake city. In fact, our consciousness has changed because we have realized that he was a great exploiter as well as an intrepid explorer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">What if Columbus had set off across the Atlantic with a very different philosophy of exploration. Suppose he had anticipated the Prime Directive that was the foundation of the Star Trek franchise 500 years later? What if noninterference in the evolution of other cultures had guided his actions in the so-called New World?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">That was then, this is now, but there are remarkable similarities and the stakes are high.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">We face choices today that will determine the trajectory of space exploration for decades to come as humanity migrates into the solar system. In fact, our future in space is really the human future. Our underlying philosophy about this great adventure matters because it will shape our behavior. So will Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos be seen as heroes or villains by our descendants in 500 years? A lot depends on how and why we go about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">For example, we are about to see the advent of a new Space Age, when companies like Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, and Blue Origin will take anyone with the price of a ticket into space. Becoming an astronaut will no longer require that you have the “Right Stuff.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Can we democratize space exploration, supporting trips for artists, scientists, clergy, global leaders, and the rest of us? Can we benefit from the Overview Effect – the experience of seeing the Earth without national boundaries? Can we see our home planet as a spaceship making its way through a universe that humanity is exploring more than it is exploiting? Having interviewed Sir Richard Branson for my book, <i>The Overview Effect</i>, I believe he wants to do just that, making space travel available to all and to the benefit of Earth. Earlier this year, the president of Virgin, speaking at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in Washington DC, said:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">“The more people that see the Earth from above, the more change you can make on Earth,”</span></i><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size: small;">·</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">How will we confront c</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">ontroversies that are looming on asteroid mining rights, space junk, militarization of space, and other important issues or should we just leave it as a “free for all?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Is space exploration primarily about making money, touting national prestige, or advancing the evolution of our species and the universe?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">These aren’t theoretical debates about the future. We are making choices today that are creating our future. Will the advocates of space exploration today be seen as heroes by their descendants? The answer depends not on our rockets but rather on our decisions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-53939760040571377832019-08-25T05:26:00.000-07:002019-08-28T06:29:05.738-07:00What's Wrong with a Space Force?<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">President Trump has signed a directive creating a “Space Force,” a new branch of service for the United States that will be a part of the Air Force (France has recently announced that they will follow suit).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Citing the dangers posed to the country by the ambitions of other nations in the space environment, the president’s support for such a force is consistent with his “America First” policies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">The directive said the following:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "cambria" , serif;">“Although United States space systems have historically maintained a technological advantage over those of our potential adversaries, those potential adversaries are now advancing their space capabilities and actively developing ways to deny our use of space in a crisis or conflict.” </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> While many anti-Trump observers opposed the creation of the Space Force without giving much detail about their concerns, there was also opposition within the Pentagon to the whole idea. The Air Force, in particular, which has its own Space Command, did not look kindly on the idea and won a major battle when the new organization was placed under its structure, similar to the Marines’ relationship to the Navy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Some have said that creation of the Space Force heightens the possibility of war in space, which may well be true, but it is not inevitable. That depends on civilian leaders, not the Space Force itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">And fighting wars on the Earth increasingly depends on space assets, especially satellites. It is not unreasonable to assign someone to make sure that those assets are protected from an adversary. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">So what, you might say, is wrong with the Space Force?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> My concern is not with the existence of the organization or the cost of it. My issue is with the language that is necessarily being used to justify the creation of this new branch of service. President Trump has justified the force because of threats, not opportunities. In other words, as he looks outward to the solar system, does he contemplate working with the Chinese or the Russians on joint expeditions to the Moon or Mars, or does he focus more on how these countries could harm the United States? This marks a change in rhetoric from that of presidents over the past 50 years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Those of us who have advocated space exploration as a great adventure for humanity have often argued that it could be an opportunity for adversaries to cooperate in unprecedented ways. Contrast President Trump’s rhetoric with that of John F. Kennedy in his historic speech at Rice University in 1962 when he said: "</span><span style="background-color: #ebebeb; font-family: "cambria" , serif;">There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again." (https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">President Kennedy went further, viewing collaboration in space exploration as a way to unwind the Cold War. While he was committed to winning the space race to the Moon, he reached out to the Soviet leadership many times before his assassination, suggesting to them that Apollo might be a joint mission and even a multinational endeavor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> So we had an opportunity in the early days of Apollo to begin a grand collaborative effort by all the nations of the Earth to explore the universe rather than to pursue a competitive zero-sum game. Now, as we contemplate mass migration out into the solar system, we have the same set of choices. Will we compete for resources and prestige or will we come together as a planet and as a species and go forward "in peace for all mankind?"<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">The military can play a positive role as humanity expands its reach beyond our home planet. They know how to operate in hostile environments and are adept at protecting civilian populations, when ordered to do so. Come to think of it, how about a Space Force drawn from all the nations of the world, with the mission of supporting a positive evolution of humanity into the universe?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Perhaps there is nothing wrong with a Space Force except the words that are used to justify it. But words have meaning, don’t they?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Copyright, Frank White, 2019, All Rights Reserved<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><br />https://frankwhiteauthor.com</span></div>
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Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-27031462564803546722019-06-15T09:27:00.000-07:002019-06-15T09:27:36.395-07:00The Astronaut's Secret: Space Center Houston Talk<div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1;">
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> <i>On June 12, 2019, I gave a talk about "the Astronaut's Secret" at Space Center Houston, the visitors' center for NASA's Johnson Space Center. We began the session by showing "Overview," the excellent film by Planetary Collective.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">That is a beautiful film, isn’t it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">We premiered it in 2012 at Harvard University and it’s been seen on Vimeo by more than 8 million people since then—with almost no marketing or advertising.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Why do you think that is? I think it’s because the people of planet Earth are hungry for the message it contains and the message that comes through in my interviews with more than 40 astronauts, several of whom I just finished interviewing here in the past few days, thanks to NASA. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">The Overview Effect is a message from the universe to humanity: it was communicated first to the astronauts when they left planet Earth and viewed the planet from a distance. They saw something that no one in human history had ever seen before. I was then fortunate enough to write about that message in my book, <i>The Overview Effect</i>, and it is now contained in this film by Planetary Collective. The message is that we are one species on one planet with a single destiny and we need to start behaving with that kind of awareness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Today, people all over the world are trying to figure out how to “bring the Overview Effect down to Earth.” Why? Because they believe the Astronaut’s Secret will transform the thinking of surface dwellers and make the world a better place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Let me step back a minute and tell you a little bit about my search for the Astronaut’s Secret and as I tell this story, please think about your own life and your own mission here on planet Earth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Today, I am going to share the Astronaut’s Secret with you, and once you know it, you will have an obligation to decide how you will deal with it, because it will change how you see the world forever. The truth is that this is one of those secrets that is hiding in plain sight. The astronauts have done their best to share it with the world, but the world is only now getting ready to hear it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">This story contains the first clue to what the Astronaut’s Secret is. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">When my son was very young, maybe four years old, around 1981, I used to take him to daycare each morning and I found out that Howie, the daycare director, was somewhat interested in space exploration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">I was desperate for an audience in those days to listen to my ideas, so I would bend Howie’s ear with visions of daycare centers in space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> “Howie, how are you going to keep up with those little kids when they are floating around in zero gravity? How are you going to manage toddlers who don’t toddler? They’re flying around! Can you imagine changing diaper when there’s no gravity?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Howie had finally had enough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> “Frank, why don’t you come give a talk to the kids about space? I’ll invite the staff, too. It’ll be fun.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Oh boy, an audience!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> The big day arrived and I spent 5 or 10 minutes telling the children about living on the moon, on Mars, in a space settlement, and so on. At the end, I said, “So how many of you would like to live in space?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> All hands shot up except one. A little guy named Masaki looked at me and said, “But Mr. White, we <i>are </i>in space.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Thank you, Mr. Masaki!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> If you were watching the film carefully, you heard my colleague, David Beaver, say exactly the same thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Yes, we are already in space, we have always been in space, and we will always be in space because we cannot be anywhere else. The Earth is a natural spaceship moving through the universe at a very high rate of speed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> So, if you have dreamed of “going into space,” congratulations, you have made it, we have all made it. We are in space, right now, this very minute. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Perhaps another dream of yours has been to become an astronaut. Well, you have achieved that as well. We humans are the<i>astronauts of Spaceship Earth</i>. We are its crew and it is up to us to see that we achieve its mission.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">You see, when our NASA astronauts, and the cosmonauts and taikonauts of other countries climb onto rockets and blast off, they are not really going into space, they are <i>leaving the Earth,</i>which is really quite different. They see that we live on a planet in space, or you might say they see our spaceship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> As astronaut Jeff Hoffman said in the film, “You see the sun as a star.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> We know we live on a planet, don’t we? Yes, every child learns that in school. the challenge is that we experience the world just as our ancestors did 500, 1000, even 10,000 years ago: we live on a stable platform that does not move and the heavens rotate above us. The difference between us and the NASA astronauts is that they know it in a different way: they have <i>experienced </i>it. When I interviewed Sandy Magnus, who flew on the very last Shuttle flight, for my book, I asked her what she took away from her spaceflight experience, she focused on the difference between intellectual and experiential knowledge. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Specifically, she said:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">What you are writing about is really the transformation of the intellectual knowledge that we all have as human beings into an experiential set of knowledge that space exploration can give...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> So, we are in space and the astronauts have experienced this fact directly, but most of us have not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> This is why I have said that I believe it should be a fundamental human right to experience the Overview Effect, either by physically leaving the planet or through a high quality simulation using virtual reality or a similar tool.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">The second clue to the astronaut’s secret is what they <i>see</i>and what they <i>feel </i>when they are in Earth orbit or on the moon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">One of the first reactions of astronauts to seeing the Earth from orbit or the moon has been how beautiful our home planet is. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Alan Shepard, first American to leave the Earth, said: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">No <span style="letter-spacing: 1.7pt;"></span>one could <span style="letter-spacing: 2.2pt;"></span>be <span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"></span>briefed <span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"></span>well <span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"></span>enough <span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"></span>to <span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"></span>be <span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"></span>completely <span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"> </span>prepared <span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>for <span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"></span>the <span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"></span>astonishing <span style="letter-spacing: 2.5pt;"> </span>view <span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"></span>that I <span style="letter-spacing: 2.5pt;"></span>got.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>My <span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"></span>exclamation <span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"></span>about <span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.45pt;"></span>“beautiful <span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"></span>sight” was <span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"></span>completely <span style="letter-spacing: 1.2pt;"> </span>spontaneous. It was <span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"></span>breathtaking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">ISS and Shuttle astronaut Nicole Stott said:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">It is a dynamic, crystal-clear view that just glows, and that doesn’t come across in the pictures and videos. You feel more a part of it when you are looking at it that way. So it was a reaffirmation of what a beautiful and special place the Earth is.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="Marko2"></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">In the film, Jeff Hoffman said it isn’t true that there are no borders or boundaries when you see the Earth from orbit. Well, it is correct that you can see different land uses from orbit, but you don’t see the little dotted lines we see on a map.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">This leads to certain ideas about the way we live life on Earth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart said:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">You look down there and you can't imagine how many borders and boundaries you cross, again and again and again, and you don't even see them. There you are—hundreds of people in the Mideast killing each other over some imaginary line that you’re not even aware of and that you can't see. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">From where you see it, the thing is a whole, and it’s so beautiful. You wish you could take one in each hand, one from each side in the various conflicts, and say, “Look. Look at it from this perspective. Look at that. What’s important?”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> They also see how fragile life on Earth really is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Many astronauts comment on how very thin the atmosphere seems to be when viewed from orbit. And that is the only thing protecting life on Earth from the harshness of the space environment. Astronaut Nicole Stott has said that the only border that really matters is that thin blue line—the atmosphere—that separates us from the rest of the universe, nurturing life and protecting us from cosmic radiation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Astronaut Ron Garan called our planet a “fragile oasis.” He told me:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s the perspective that each and every one of us is riding through the universe together on this spaceship we call Earth, that we’ll all in this together, that we’re all interconnected, that we’re all family and our Spaceship Earth is all we’ve got, a “fragile oasis,” if you will. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">But it isn’t really the Earth that is fragile, it is our human civilization, threatened as it is by so many challenges, such as climate change. In general, astronauts become far more aware of environmental concerns when they return from their time away from home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Ultimately, they see the interconnection of all life on Earth and they frequently remark, like Ron Garan, that “we’re all in this together” and must learn to collaborate more effectively. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> In the words of Shuttle astronaut Don Lind:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">You can’t see the boundaries over which we fight wars, and in a very real way, the inhabitants of this Earth are stuck on a very beautiful, lovely little planet in an incredibly hostile space, and everybody is in the same boat. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Finally, our astronauts have learned the value of exploration and the surprises it can bring to us in terms of evolution of our awareness of who we are and where we are in the universe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Joe Allen, the first astronaut I interviewed for my book, said:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">With all the arguments, pro and con, for going to the moon, no one suggested that we should do it to look at the Earth. But that may in fact be the most important reason. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Are you beginning to see what the Astronaut’s Secret is? Are you picking up on this second clue? The astronauts have a cognitive shift in awareness, in identity, in worldview, and they are never quite the same again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> Because they are different people with different backgrounds and belief systems, they may describe the experience in different ways, but there is something that unites all of these responses to this remarkable experience. When I interviewed Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell, he asked me what I had learned in interviewing astronauts and I said that I was surprised at the variety of experiences each person had had. He told me:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">The variety in the interpretation of the experience is a lot greater than you expected. The experience is the same...The problem is, how do they interpret it and how do they express it?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">That comes through the belief system, which is the key to how you see and interpret all these events. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> So, we are in space, we have always been in space, and we will always be in space. However, the only way we can fully grasp this reality is the leave the Earth and look back at our home planet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> We need one final clue to fully understand the Astronaut’s Secret, which I am now about to reveal to you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> The clue is this: the astronauts not only see the Earth from a unique vantage point but they also see the <i>universe</i>itself in a way that no other human being has seen it. They see the Earth not only from space but also in space. This realization is at the heart of my book about human purpose in the universe, <i>The Cosma Hypothesis. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">This perception of the universe is especially true of lunar missions. As Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan told me: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">When I was on the moon somewhere out there in the universe, I had to stop and ask myself, “Do you really know where you are in space and time and history?” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">And Edgar Mitchell said this about going to the Moon:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">It gets you closer to a more universal experience because of the distance and wider view. You identify more with the universe as it is instead of the Earth as it is. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;">Perhaps now you know what the Astronaut’s Secret is, having heard the third clue, which points out that the astronauts not only saw the Earth in a new way but they also experienced the universe in a new way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;">Not only that, but they also became very comfortable in this supposedly alien environment. As Shuttle astronaut Bonnie Dunbar put it: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Seeing the Earth from that perspective reinforced my concept of a small fragile planet and a species needing to come to terms with itself. With successive flights, I have become more at home in space. I miss it. I miss looking down on the Earth and looking out into the universe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;">Well, here it is, the quote from Shuttle astronaut Al Sacco, Jr, that finally told me what the Astronaut’s Secret is: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">People ask why you would risk your life to fly in space, and I tell them it's in response to a dream and a vision. I tell them about something I call “The Astronaut's Secret.” It’s a realization all of the astronauts have, which is that we are a member of the whole human family. It goes beyond even being a citizen of the Earth; you are really a citizen of the universe. When you are in orbit, you ask yourself, “Why do people have the differences they have down on Earth?” You see that the Earth is just a small part of a large universe, and you have a feeling about it that is hard to describe. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">For me, being in orbit was very comforting. In some ways, I was more comfortable in space than on Earth, and I hated to leave that environment. That is another part of the astronaut's secret.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;"> So there you have it: the Astronaut’s Secret is pretty obvious, isn’t it: we are confined, for now, to a single planet, but we are really citizens of the universe. A few of our fellow humans, who have left the Earth, looking back and looking out, tell us that it is remarkably comfortable out there, that they felt at home in the universe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;"> This may seem hard to believe—that we are universal beings, not just planetary beings and that we would be more comfortable out there, where there is no air or water, no plants or trees like we have on Earth. But think about this: when you are a baby, in your mother’s womb, it’s warm, comfortable, and pleasant and all of your needs are supplied. When you are born, though, oh wow, there are sounds and lights and all kinds of things happening to you. There is a reason babies cry when they are born! But you soon adjust and would not want to return to the womb.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;">And think about the fact that after we are born we grow up and become citizens of the country in which we were born. We know that it carries with it certain rights and obligations. We know, too, that if we want to become a citizen of a country where we were not born, we have to take a citizenship test.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;"> Well, that is what humanity is facing now as we prepare to leave our home planet in large numbers and move out into the solar system. Will we pass the universe’s citizenship test? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;"> It’s up to us. Better start studying! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Note: All quotes are from <i>The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution, </i>AIAA, 2014<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">For more information on Space Center Houston: https://spacecenter.org</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Copyright, Frank White, 2019, All Rights Reserved<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-63361419412310958722019-06-15T03:49:00.002-07:002019-06-15T03:53:00.280-07:00The Importance of Spacebuzz<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;">In the fall of 2017, I was privileged to deliver the keynote address at the first symposium on the Overview Effect. I met a number of very interesting people there, among them Hidde Hoogcarspel. At that time, Hidde had an idea for sharing the Overview Effect experience with children. He imagined a bus that would look like a rocket ship and would drive to the schools of the Netherlands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><br />My friend and colleague Duncan Mackennzie and I had dinner with Hidde and one of his most enthusiastic backers, Zoran </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, serif;">van Gessel, in Amsterdam after the symposium.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, serif;"><br />Hidde described his vision for the "educational rocket ship bus" and Zoran explained why he was supporting it. Zoran is also passionately committed to the World Wildlife Fund and he told us that he believes the dissemination of the Overview Effect is essential to the success of organizations like his.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, serif;"><br />Now, about two years later, Hidde's brainchild, "SpaceBuzz," has the support of ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers, and the bus actually exists. They are getting a lot of good media coverage and are looking to expand the effort beyond the Netherlands, with other countries, including the United States, as future areas of expansion.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;">https://interestingengineering.com/the-overview-effect-seeing-earth-from-above-can-inspire-change<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, serif;"><br />It is so important that we share the Overview Effect with children because they will be open to it and it will be a part of their thinking as they grow into adults who must take responsibility for this planet and, eventually, the solar system.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, serif;"><br />Congratulations, Hidde!</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;">Copyright, Frank White, 2019, All Rights Reserved<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><br />https://frankwhiteauthor.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span>Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-12132225928042773962019-04-26T08:48:00.001-07:002019-04-26T08:48:09.883-07:00Sean McClinton's Review of The Cosma Hypothesis<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sean and I have known each other for quite a while now and we talk frequently about the future of space tourism and space exploration in general. Here are his thoughts about <i>The Cosma Hypothesis:</i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"At the Space Entrepreneurs in Seattle, WA, we are focused on the 'what' of space exploration---the 'what' being helping people advance their careers in space. Frank White has done an amazingly thorough job of exploring the 'why' of space exploration in <i>The Cosma Hypothesis</i>. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"As Simon Sinek would say, it starts with 'why.' We have the option to do things as we have always done them, or we could pursue a higher destiny and be a better version of ourselves through space exploration. It's my firm belief that reading <i>The Cosma Hypothesis</i> will help you more firmly ground your reasons for exploring space in the 'why,' and at a more planet-wide level. We all have our own reasons for being interested in space exploration, but <i>Cosma </i>will help you understand those within our society and the world as a whole. As a world-renowned space philosopher and author of the now cult classic <i>The Overview Effect</i>, Frank takes his thinking to the next level about what this all means. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"With the rise of the commercialization of space, it's important that we think consciously about why we do this, so we can better inform our 'how,' and Frank helps us do just that in <i>The Cosma Hypothesis."</i> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">---Sean McClinton</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Sean is the founder and organizer of the Space Entrepreneurs network in Seattle, WA, a network designed to help people accelerate their careers in space. He also founded the company SpaceToTravel, a space-related travel services company designed to help people get more out of their travel lives, using space. You can follow him at @sean_mcclinton.</span>Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-84895636417731363792019-04-03T06:16:00.000-07:002019-04-03T12:08:05.074-07:00More from Kevin KelleyAs I have said in an earlier post, I have known Kevin for many years, dating back to the late 1980s, when he published<i> The Home Planet</i> and I published<i> The Overview Effect.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><i> </i>Kevin is also a founding member of the Overview Institute, which was established in 2008.<br />
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More recently, he reviewed early drafts of<i> The Cosma Hypothesis. </i> Here is another comment he has now made on the book:<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">"Whether you are a humanity-in-space geek or never gave it much thought, this book will leave you thinking and wondering for a very long time.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">"Frank White proves and evolves Goethe’s statement that: 'Every object, well contemplated, opens up a new organ of perception within us.' But Frank’s fourth-dimensional evolution begets a Klein bottle where Cosmos, organ of perception, and we, are One." <span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">KEVIN W. KELLEY is an artist, entrepreneur, and author of <i>New York Times </i>and international best-selling book <i>The Home Planet </i>(1988)—a large-format book of stunning photographs of Earth taken from space, accompanied by quotations from astronauts and cosmonauts reflecting on the profound effect of experiencing the planet from the perspective of outer space. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">The Home Planet </span></i><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">and Frank White’s <i>The Overview Effect </i>were published contemporaneously. Both attempted to interpret the astronaut experience, one primarily with pictures and the other through words.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Kelley’s musings about our place in the cosmos have resulted in the development of Infinitaas™, a revolutionary way to visualize our journey through time, space and evolution. Infinitaas will be a real-time, interactive, visualization technology for exploring and conveying Big History and Earth Systems Science.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Once again, the two authors’ visions link up: White describing in words and Kelley evoking imagery that conveys understanding and experience.<span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">(<i>The Cosma Hypothesis</i> is available on Kindle, Audible, and in print on Amazon.com)</span></span></div>
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Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-48926898570634274622019-03-21T09:48:00.001-07:002019-03-25T05:52:35.703-07:00Kevin Kelley on " The Cosma Hypothesis"I have known Kevin for many years, dating back to the late 1980s, when he published<i> The Home Planet</i> and I published<i> The Overview Effect.</i><br />
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<i> </i>Kevin also is a founding member of the Overview Institute, which was established in 2008.<br />
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More recently, he commented on early drafts of<i> The Cosma Hypothesis. </i> Here is one of his comments on the book:<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">"The Cosma Hypothesis </span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">is the Bible and Master Plan for the real Star Trek!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">"If you have ever imagined going into space or wished to see humanity trek to distant stars, planets, and galaxies—well, this is the book for you! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">"In his passion for seeing humanity spread into space, Frank White offers the concepts, rationales, purposes, and even a comprehensive visionary master plan for starting the Human Space Program immediately, tomorrow!" <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">KEVIN W. KELLEY is an artist, entrepreneur, and author of <i>New York Times </i>and international best-selling book <i>The Home Planet </i>(1988)—a large-format book of stunning photographs of Earth taken from space, accompanied by quotations from astronauts and cosmonauts reflecting on the profound effect of experiencing the planet from the perspective of outer space. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">The Home Planet </span></i><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">and Frank White’s <i>The Overview Effect </i>were published contemporaneously. Both attempted to interpret the astronaut experience, one primarily with pictures and the other through words.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Kelley’s musings about our place in the cosmos have resulted in the development of Infinitaas™, a revolutionary way to visualize our journey through time, space and evolution. Infinitaas will be a real-time, interactive, visualization technology for exploring and conveying Big History and Earth Systems Science.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Once again, the two authors’ visions link up: White describing in words and Kelley evoking imagery that conveys understanding and experience.<span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Copyright, Frank White, 2019, All Rights Reserved</span></div>
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Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-69629805551915436192019-02-27T12:30:00.000-08:002019-02-27T12:30:22.407-08:00Rick Tumlinson on The Cosma Hypothesis: Implications of the Overview EffectRick and I go way back, to the early days of the space movement and meetings at Gerard K. O'Neill's Space Studies Institute. We are both committed to developing a new philosophy of space exploration and have been working with Dylan Taylor on developing the 2211.world website, which is dedicated to that task (Dylan is also publishing <i>Cosma)</i>. Most recently, Rick has founded SpaceFund, an initiative to "tokenize space."<br />
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I asked Rick to review <i>Cosma </i>and write something about the book. He did, and I had planned to tweet out a portion of it, but decided that it would not do justice to his comments.<br />
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So here is what he said, as well as some details about Rick's current work:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><i>In today’s world, everything is seen through narrow lenses. Left, right, class, gender, race, nation—forcing us to focus not on who we are but who we are not. In Cosma, Frank White blows past all of this. In fact, he shatters all lenses, tears down the walls, blows the roof off, and throws us out into the universe. And then, from the same vantage point of the astronauts from whom he derived the Overview Effect, floating in the infinite stillness of space, he contemplates the ultimate question of our role in that universe. His answer is both awesome and inspiring, and were it to become the driving force in our culture would change everything, by bringing us all together—for as Frank makes clear—we Are the Universe.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Rick<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> Tumlinson is a writer, speaker, and one of the creators of the space revolution that has the goal of settling the Solar System. He recently started SpaceFund, the world’s first tokenized venture capital fund for space. You can follow him @RocketRick.</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Thanks, Rick!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">(<i>The Cosma Hypothesis</i> is available on Kindle and Audible now and the print version is available for pre-order, with a March 12 publication date, on Amazon.com)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Copyright, Frank White, 2019, All Rights Reserved</span></div>
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<br />Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-54772360060868407272018-12-24T12:39:00.004-08:002018-12-24T13:10:53.939-08:00Apollo 8 and the Overview Effect: Part TwoMany 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.<br />
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In fact, it was on the Apollo 8 mission that we first saw the <i>whole Earth</i> from space in an image sent to us by astronauts (there had been some less remarkable photos sent by probes that were not piloted).<br />
However, strictly speaking, the first true experience of the Overview Effect took place when Yuri Gagarin went into orbit in 1961.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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 <i>The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution </i>and Nicole has written the foreword to the fourth edition.)<br />
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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?<br />
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Yes!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Copyright, Frank White, 2018, All Rights Reserved</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="color: #222222; text-align: justify;">The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution </i><span style="color: #222222; text-align: justify;">is available at aiaa.org and amazon.com </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><i>The New Camelot: the Quest for the Overview Effect </i>is available at Apogee Prime</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: justify;">http://www.cgpublishing.com/prime/bookpages/9781926837383.html</span><br />
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<br />Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-39208694263846243752018-12-21T05:35:00.001-08:002018-12-21T05:35:04.739-08:00Apollo 8 and the Overview Effect: Part OneAs 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Today, after 50 years of thinking about that moment, I believe I am just beginning to understand how profound it really was.<br />
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More later!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Copyright, Frank White, 2018, All Rights Reserved</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="color: #222222; text-align: justify;">The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution </i><span style="color: #222222; text-align: justify;">is available at aiaa.org and amazon.com </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><i>The New Camelot: the Quest for the Overview Effect </i>is available at Apogee Prime</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: justify;">http://www.cgpublishing.com/prime/bookpages/9781926837383.html</span></div>
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<br />Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-6956274150819291912018-12-13T15:39:00.002-08:002018-12-13T15:41:14.401-08:00A Historic Day<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/13/virgin-galactic-flight-could-send-first-astronauts-to-edge-of-space.html</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">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.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">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.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I had the privilege of interviewing Sir Richard Branson, who founded Virgin Galactic, for the third edition of <i>The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution. </i>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."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">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</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Incredible things indeed!</span></span><br />
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Copyright, Frank White, 2018, All Rights Reserved</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="color: #222222; text-align: justify;">The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution </i><span style="color: #222222; text-align: justify;">is available at aiaa.org and amazon.com </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; text-align: justify;"><i>The New Camelot: the Quest for the Overview Effect </i>is available at Apogee Prime</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; text-align: justify;">http://www.cgpublishing.com/prime/bookpages/9781926837383.html</span></div>
Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-63210774711738306352018-10-17T11:43:00.000-07:002018-10-17T11:43:58.338-07:00Space in New England: We Need an Alliance<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
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Hiawatha Bray, a columnist for the <i>Boston Globe</i>, recently wrote an eye-opening article about entrepreneurial space companies in New England. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><a href="http://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/article_popover.aspx?guid=b5a4ac9b-2235-426a-a9eb-a2a28f3c13dc" style="color: purple;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">http://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/article_popover.aspx?guid=b5a4ac9b-2235-426a-a9eb-a2a28f3c13dc</span></a></span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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According to Bray, New England, which has been on the leading edge of the computer and biotech revolutions, is starting to seize on another big opportunity: the explosion of interest by private enterprise in space exploration and development. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Long the province of government agencies, space has become a hot destination for venture capital investment and a Morgan Stanley report estimated that “NewSpace” could grow into a trillion-dollar industry.<o:p></o:p></div>
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https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/investing-in-space<o:p></o:p></div>
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While NewSpace is, well, new and these estimates may be high, real economic opportunities already exist beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. As satellites have shrunk in size and launch costs have plummeted, this segment is powering the revolution, providing services from crop monitoring to humanitarian assistance, weather forecasting to maritime navigation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Like the computer industry in the 1980s and 1990s, space commerce has moved out of the government domain into the realm of eager entrepreneurs, bringing with it benefits for terrestrial industries and consumers alike. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Other cities, regions, and states have openly grasped the implications of these developments and put out the welcome mat for space commerce companies. So why is it that New England is not seen as a regional leader in the field?<o:p></o:p></div>
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In fact, there may be more going on than meets the eye.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Space in New England<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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For example, Bray points to a number of small companies, some new and some mature that are vigorously pursuing space-related ventures. In addition, a group of faculty, staff, and students at Harvard, MIT, and other institutions are promoting an effort to establish an interfaculty initiative on space exploration and development for the two institutions. Just outside of Boston, Framingham State University (FSU) is home to the Christa McAuliffe Center for Integrative Science Learning, established in the aftermath of the space shuttle <i>Challenger </i>explosion to honor the FSU alumna. Director Irene Porro also leads the MetroWest STEM Education Network (MSEN) which is dedicated to promoting quality education and career pathways in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the MetroWest region.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">ORGANIZATION</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">WHAT THEY DO</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">CITY</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Accion Systems</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Developing scalable electric propulsion technology for satellites. Their ion engine is lighter, more efficient, and more powerful — and can be manufactured hundreds of units at a time.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Boston</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Analytical Space</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Creating a network to get satellite data to ground quickly and affordably using lasers.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Cambridge</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Busek Co.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Provides high-performance propulsion electronics and systems for spaceflight. Founder and president just won </span><u><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://busek.com/index_htm_files/NASAPublicAchievement25APR2018.pdf" style="color: purple;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">NASA Exceptional Public Achievement Medal</span></a></span></u><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Natick</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Draper</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Nonprofit R&D company doing work in aerospace and defense. In May, Draper’s software helped </span><u><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="https://www.draper.com/news/draper-guides-cygnus-ninth-cargo-mission-space-station" style="color: purple;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">guide a rocket Mission to Space Station</span></a></span></u><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">. Draper provides the fault-tolerant computer design, the guidance, navigation and targeting software, and the software that enables Cygnus to rendezvous and berth with the ISS. </span><b><u><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="https://www.draper.com/history" style="color: purple;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Roots</span></a></span></u></b><b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">go back to 1934</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> at MIT, and guidance systems for Apollo in 1969.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Cambridge</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">TellusLabs</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Deriving insights from satellite imagery to solve social problems, e.g., food scarcity, water resources, and forest management. Combines machine learning, statistics, remote sensing and geospatial sciences.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Cambridge</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Triton Space</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">An engineering design and manufacturing company that specializes in low-cost practical rocket propulsion systems.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Boston</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Harvard/MIT and others</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Cross-faculty, cross-institution working group fostering numerous initiatives on space-related issues.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Cambridge</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Framingham State</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Developing an educational project called “The Moon Landing in Context” about Apollo program from both an engineering/technical perspective and the social context of the 1960s, e.g., poverty and civil rights.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Framingham</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 26.666664123535156px;">[Chart courtesy of Brodeur Space Group]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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At MIT, Amherst and Harvard graduate and former astronaut Jeff Hoffman manages the <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium (MASGC)</span>. <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">To further the development of space science and space engineering opportunities, MASGC funds a multi-disciplinary educational program. It is one of 52 Space Consortia established by NASA under the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program created by Congress in 1987.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Taken together, the region can boast a significant level of involvement in the rapidly growing “NewSpace” movement. As Natalya Bailey, co-founder and CEO of Accion Systems puts it, “<span style="background-color: white;">It’s not surprising that my co-founder, Louis Perna, and I came to Boston from other parts of the United States. The city is one of the world leaders in R&D and innovation, and we have no doubt that NewSpace will continue to grow and thrive here.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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However, the activity is, to a large extent, under the surface compared with, say, the hotbed of effort in New York City, which is being stoked by the New York Space Alliance (NYSA).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>The New York Example<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Led by entrepreneur and Columbia University faculty member Sidney Nakahodo, NYSA promotes entrepreneurial space ventures by tapping the New York financial, business, academic and creative communities. As an entity that bridges the gap between the public sector, corporations, and NewSpace ventures, NYSA is becoming a force to reckon with.<o:p></o:p></div>
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According to Nakahodo, the growth of NewSpace will depend on and contribute to local entrepreneurship ecosystems. “It’s a win-win situation where such linkages promote economic development, attract talent, and foster innovation with spillover impact beyond the space sector,” says the NYSA cofounder. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>A New England Space Alliance<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The United States once led the way in space exploration, with New England institutions playing a major role in the nation’s success with programs like Apollo. Today, the U.S. faces competition from emerging space powers like India and China and new missions as NASA prepares to return to the moon. <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">In time, the region might naturally link up with like-minded </span>entrepreneurs <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">in New York and the Mid-Atlantic states to create an even more robust center of space commerce.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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As a new space renaissance begins, a New England Space Alliance would be good for the region, the country, and the world.Space <o:p></o:p></div>
Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6794307032396014866.post-54392924765792284052018-08-31T08:30:00.001-07:002018-08-31T08:30:04.939-07:00The "Earthrise App"Fifty years ago this Christmas, Apollo 8 traveled to the moon. It may have been the most important mission to date, as an Overview Effect moment. The astronauts did not land but they did orbit the moon and at one point as they rounded the far side, they saw something extraordinary hanging in the lunar sky---our very own Earth!<br />
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They had already "blown our minds" on their way to the moon by turning their cameras back to look at the whole Earth, the first time human beings had ever shown the complete image of the home planet to their fellow humans.<br />
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This reversal of perspective truly revealed the Earth for what it is: a planet in space, aka "Spaceship Earth." Over time, we have come to realize that all of us are astronauts on this natural spaceship as it courses through the universe.<br />
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We realize it intellectually, but our experience is the same as that of our ancestors hundreds, even thousands, of years ago.<br />
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So many of us who are interested in the Overview Effect believe that if we could provide the astronaut experience to surface dwellers, it would make a huge difference in the behavior of people on "Spaceship Earth."<br />
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Recently, one of these "Overviewers" got in touch with me and David Beaver to discuss an idea he had for an application that would bring home the reality that we really do live on "Spaceship Earth" and that we are really the astronauts of this spacecraft. His name is Mike Turney and his application is called, appropriately, "Earthrise."<br />
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Here are some of Mike's thoughts on "Earthrise:"<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">"</span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: 12pt;">Considering the almost certain exponential global increase in Internet connectivity coupled with growing access to inexpensive devices the world is poised for an on-line explosion connecting billions of people. What if we could create a phone/tablet application that would connect these people while giving a instant and visual human pulse of the planet? </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">An app that would allow the user to experience real-time global feedback depicted graphically onto the surface of a beautiful 3D/360 photorealistic globe of the Earth floating in space. </span></div>
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"The two constant themes would <i>BE</i> the Earth as a visual whole and visually sharing this Earth with one another in real time.</div>
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"Imagine, for example, a simple 'Question of the Day' posed to the world, only to see the results to that question light up on the surface of Earth? <span style="font-family: -webkit-standard;">Think of the opportunities with the type of global questions that could be asked, ones which drill down illuminating our common humanity sharing this planet together.</span></div>
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"Other related uses for a format of this kind could include:</div>
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*To poll the planet on important subjects affecting all people. </div>
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*The ability to build consensus on matters of concern in concert with the ability to visually depict consensus (and dissent) on the globe.</div>
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*The ability to instantly ping other participants or events from and to anywhere in the world resulting in visual tidal waves. (These pings are quantifiably visible in real time on the surface of the globe.)</div>
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*The ability to orchestrate global events visually and in real time.</div>
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*The ability to formulate global opinion and policies.</div>
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*Reinforcement of One People/One Planet/Spaceship Earth."</div>
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David and I discussed the concept at length with Mike and we like it.</div>
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We pointed out that you can't always control how people behave on the Internet, so this app might draw trolls who would try to take it in the wrong direction.<span style="font-family: -webkit-standard;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: cambria;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Yet Mike believes the specific design of the app could focus the conversation in a way that stays on topic, emphasizing our fundamental human likenesses, needs and desires.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: small;">If you are interested, please contact Mike at </span><u><a href="mailto:miketurn@hotmail.com" rel="noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">miketurn@hotmail.com</a> </u>and include in the subject line "Earthrise."</span><br />
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Frank Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08837528885668284960noreply@blogger.com0