THE ASTRONAUT PERSPECTIVE
One of the greatest discoveries of space exploration is, surprisingly, Earth. Apollo 8 was the first space craft to orbit the Moon and the image taken by astronaut Bill Anders of the Earth rising above the surface of the Moon changed our perception of our planet. We started to see ourselves from the outside. Every astronaut since the Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space has spoken about the psychological impact it has on you when you see the planet from above, often called “The Overview Effect”. It is the moment when we not only know but feel how fragile and unique our planet is. How tiny it is in the Universe; how thin our atmosphere is which is the only place where we can survive without a life support system; how our planet is just a single entity with limited resources, interconnected nature, no borders and only a single human species. One us.
The astronaut perspective is when you have the ability to look at things from the outside in. To see the larger context of things and think about the impact things have on our life support system, our water reserves, our oxygen production, our food production. It is a mindset of sustainability. It is a perspective on conflicts where you do not just look at the incident or how it impacts you but also what triggers it and what it looks like from the other direction. From the outside in.
TEAM WORK
While astronauts are sometimes glorified, they more often have to put their ego aside. The mission is what is important. The team work is what gets them there. They all know that whatever glory may be attributed to them in the media the real credit goes to thousands of people who had to do their very best to make all this happen. The pride comes from knowing you did your very best too so that it could happen and not from the way it is portrayed in the media. The astronaut perspective is team spirit, understanding, ability to let go of your ego and seeing things from a different angle.
SPACESHIP EARTH
When you see our planet from afar, like the image Carl Sagan asked to be taken from the Voyager space craft or the one here to the right from space craft Cassini while orbiting Saturn, where Earth is nothing but a pale blue dot, you realise that Earth is simply our spacecraft. Spaceship Earth, the vessel we travel on through the Universe at 40.000 miles per hour, one round after another around the sun. That perspective makes you realise that we are all astronauts on board our spacecraft Earth, and that it is our responsibility to make sure that we function as a team, that we take good care of our life support system and make sure our resources are used in the most effective and yet sustainable way.
YOU ARE THE ONE
YOU are an astronaut, whether you realise it or not. We offer you the training you need to succeed as one.