The unique Association of Space Explorers has 400 members. They are united by the fact that they have seen the Earth from the outside, from space, and they share the conviction that this view has changed their lives. This is reflected in the reports of their journey into the greatest outdoors, which were collected in The Home Planet.1 They describe the indescribable on behalf of all of us who have also taken this step inwardly. Astronaut Russell Schweikart, notes that he felt like a sensor for the whole of humanity, “here at the front line.” It is always about the earth and its vulnerability:
“In my spaceship, I always remain the child of Mother Earth,” says Mirosław Hermaszewski from Poland. Or Gus Grissom from the USA: “There is a clarity, a brilliance to space that simply doesn’t exist on earth, even on a cloudless summer’s day in the Rockies, and nowhere else can you realize so fully the majesty of our Earth and be so awed at the thought that it’s only one of untold thousands of planets.” And Loren Acton: “There, contained in the thin, moving, incredibly fragile shell of the biosphere is everything that is dear to you, all the human drama and comedy. That’s where life is; that’s where all the good stuff is.”
The testimonies of the space travelers remind me of the line in Reinhard Mey’s song “Dann mach’s gut” [Then take care.] In the tender requiem, the songwriter sings of his last encounter with his son Max, who died young, as the train door closes, separating them: “We only understand our happiness when we see it from outside.”
Translation Laura Liska
Image AS17-148-22727, The Blue Marble is one of the first photographs to capture the entire Earth, taken on December 7, 1972. During their journey to the Moon, the crew of Apollo 17 turned their camera towards Earth, capturing this iconic image. Many astronauts have described the sight as a transcendent experience, one that inspired them to return to Earth and commit to its preservation. Source: NASA
