Overview effect
The phenomenon that astronauts experience when they see planet earth from space for the first time is described as the overview effect . The term was coined by Frank White 's book of the same name from 1987. The overview effect is described as an experience that changes the perspective of planet earth and the humanity living on it. Basic characteristics are a sense of awe, a deep understanding of the connectedness of all life on earth and a new sense of responsibility for our environment.
background
The astronauts of the first manned mission to the moon, Apollo 8, were the first to see the earth in its entirety. On December 24, 1968, the astronaut William Anders (unplanned) took the first photo of the earth (" Earthrise ") from this distance. The astronauts of the Apollo 17 mission had the last overall view of the earth so far in 1972, this is where the world-famous photo " Blue Marble " was taken. From the International Space Station ISS only a partial view of the earth is possible.
book
In the book "The Overview Effect" by Frank White , published in 1987, crew members of some space missions (such as Yuri Alexejewitsch Gagarin , Alan Shepard , John Glenn , Malcolm Scott Carpenter , Eugene Cernan , Michael Collins , Russell Louis Schweickart , Edgar Mitchell , Anatoli Nikolajewitsch Beresowoi , Marc Garneau , Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud , Loren Wilber Acton , Bonnie Jeanne Dunbar , Tamara Elizabeth Jernigan , Albert Sacco ), which profound and comprehensive effect the sight of the earth has triggered on them.
Movie
At the end of 2012 a short documentary “Overview” was released, directed by Guy Reid . It includes interviews with astronauts Edgar Mitchell , Ron Garan , Nicole Stott , Jeff Hoffman and Shane Kimbrough . The author of the book “The Overview Effect”, Frank White and the Zen philosopher David Loy also have their say .
Quotes
"When we look down at the Earth from space we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet - it looks like a living, breathing organism. But it also, at the same time, looks extremely fragile. "..." Anybody else who has been out at space says the same thing, because it really is striking, and is really sobering, to see this paper thin layer and to realize that this little paper thin layer is all that protects every living thing on earth from death, basically, from the harshness of space. "
“When we look down at Earth from space, we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet - which looks like a living, breathing organism. But at the same time it looks very vulnerable. "..." Everyone who has ever been in space says the same thing, because it is very impressive, very sobering to see this paper-thin shell and to realize that this paper-thin shell is on every living being the earth is saved from death, from the inhospitable space. "
"... You only see the boundaries of nature from there ... not those that are manmade." ... "It is one of the deepest, most emotional experiences I have ever had."
"... From up there you can only see the natural limits ... not those created by humans." ... "This was one of the deepest, most emotional experiences I have ever had."
"... I had studied astronomy and I had studied cosmology and fully understood that the molecules in my body and the molecules in my partners bodies and in the spacecraft had been prototyped in the generation of stars. And it had been obvious from those descriptions: we are stardust. And this was pretty awesome and powerful. "
“I studied astronomy and cosmology and I fully understood [now] that the molecules in my body, in the bodies of my colleagues and in the spaceship came from the formation of stars. And from these descriptions it was clear: we are stardust. And that was just overwhelming and powerful. "
“It's so incredibly beautiful that you actually need new words to describe it. You are overwhelmed. "
See also
literature
- Frank White: The overview effect. The first interdisciplinary evaluation of 20 years of space travel. Scherz, Bern 1989, ISBN 3-502-17770-8
- Frank White: The overview effect. Foreword by Ulf Merbold . How the experience of space changes human perception, thought and action. The 1st interdisciplinary evaluation of 20 years of space travel. Goldmann Verlag, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-442-11471-3 .
Web links
- The Overview Institute . Retrieved July 8, 2013.
- World premiere of the documentary Overview (with Rob Neugeboren, Frank White, Guy Reid, Jeffrey Alan Hoffman , Ronald John Garan and Douglas Trumbull ), Harvard University , December 7, 2012. Video (1 h 29 min), accessed on December 1, 2013.
- Sputnik and the greening of the worldview Telepolis, October 1st, 2007
- Frank White - The Overview Effect @ The Space Show. Retrieved November 12, 2012
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Homepage for the film "Overview" ( Memento of the original from June 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (including video, 19 minutes). Retrieved June 30, 2013.
- ^ A b Exploring the Moon, Discovering Earth science.nasa.gov, July 17, 2009. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
- ↑ Frank White: The Overview Effect - the 1st interdisciplinary evaluation of 20 years of space travel. Scherz, Bern 1989, ISBN 3-502-17770-8 . “The Experiences of Astronauts and Cosmonauts”, pp. 243–331
