Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Earth from Galileo



I read a wonderful quote from ex US astronaut Walter Schirra Jr, who died recently aged 84. He was one of the pioneers from the Mercury programme.

"I left Earth three times and found no other place to go. Please take care of Spaceship Earth"

4 comments:

Alexander said...

Great quote, and it very much aligns with how I feel actually. In my youth (many Eons ago when the world was young and internet was but a dream) I used to be very focused on all things "spacey" (and we're not talking about Opium pipes here). Even now I find great beauty in the Heavens (I still prefer that term when talking about space) still. Except,now I feel we have all we need right "here". Just, we've lost balance and deep connection to earth. We've lost moderation and gone to extremes and that is why we're suffering. Earth has everything we need, but our populations are out of control and we've become an infestation. In many ways, my views began to change when as a teenager I heard about the Gaia theory. Although when I look at it now there are aspects of it which I find a bit odd, the initial grab was that it was rather similar to the Ancient Chinese Taoist way of living. Moderation and balance, working in harmony with nature as if it truly is a living breathing organism in itself. How this can be solved, I don't know. Part of me thinks the only way is if there will be some gigantic natural disaster. Because otherwise, I don't think any of us in humanity are going to go "backwards" voluntarily, in terms of material development. We're far too used to it now.

Dragonfly said...

Nice said. I can't add anything more. :)

Martin said...

Very nice, thanks Alexander. I thought I had posted a video clip, not just a picture.

Check this out :)

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070514.html

Alexander said...

Amazing,Martin.

Of course, whenever I see the name - "Galileo", the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody jump into my mind. Brainwashing. :D

"Galileo,galileo,
Galileo galileo
Galileo figaro-magnifico"