EYES TO THE SKY November 29 – December 12, 2021 “Under One Sky”: human voices from space

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EYES TO THE SKY
November 29 – December 12, 2021
“Under One Sky”: human voices from space
A 3d rendering of Earth as seen from space. Notice Earth’s atmosphere. Credit: elements of this image are by NASA, via the International Dark Sky Association
I heard the voices of sensitive humans from outer space. They spoke of living in awe of the beauty of a blue planet—Earth—hanging in the blackness of space. The uniqueness of Earth in the cosmos astounded them, charged them with emotion. They observed the Sun white in the great blackness, not as we know the shining orb seen through our blue atmosphere, the sky. Stars—viewed with no atmosphere between eye and star—are vivid, steady lights of different colors: red, orange, yellow, blue, white.
“Nothing could prepare me for the phenomenon of the fragile atmosphere. The thinness of the atmosphere: paper thin.”
Deep sea researcher-turned-astronaut Ron Garan and astro-physicist-astronaut John Grunsfeld related experiences that shaped their world view, perspectives gained during residencies on the International Space Station, 200 miles above Earth. (Check out this story and graphic that presents a fresh way of looking at the Earth’s atmosphere.) I was tuned in to a livestream of their discussion at the recent International Dark Sky Association’s “Under One Sky 2021” global conference.
NASA Astronaut Ron Garan, featured panelist, “Under One Sky”, International Dark-Sky Association 2021 Global Conference, November 13, 2021.
Courtesy darksky.org
“We live on a planet,” Garan emphasized, returning to the once-ubiquitous moniker, Spaceship Earth. “There are no passengers, all Earthlings are crew mates on planet Earth.”
There is one biosphere for all. There are no boundaries. Our fate is totally interdependent with all life: our actions on land, water, sky are interconnected. Listen up! It is required of each of us to be guided by a planetary perspective.
NASA Astronaut John Mace Grunfield, featured panelist, “Under One Sky”, International Dark-Sky Association 2021 Global Conference, November 13, 2021.
Courtesy darksky.org
Grunsfeld related that, seen from space at night, Earth’s lights are scars on the landscape. The amount of wasted electricity we expend to send light into space amounts to billions of dollars a year for inefficient, poorly designed lighting. He quipped that travelers from a faraway planet seeing the disastrous waste of light would conclude that “no intelligent life” exists on Earth. The astronauts urged that fighting light pollution is a “fight worth fighting.”
Judy Isacoff