Earth from Space

When Earth is viewed from the vantage of space, the experience is awe-inspiring. It’s called “The Overview Effect”, described by astronauts as an overwhelming feeling and realization that our planet is beautiful, fragile and an “interconnected whole with one destiny”.  Seeing Earth from space is also the best place for scientists to learn about our planet, and the ability to fly into space satellites that continuously gather data and images has provided an important tool to our understanding of the Earth and its environment.  Watch these videos for a short ride above the the Earth and see for yourself. 

Time-Lapse Earth is a short video produced by Bruce W. Berry Jr. using sequences taken from the International Space Station (ISS) as it orbited Earth.  ISS makes the trip about once every 90 mins at a speed of 27,600kmh/17,150mph and altitude of 400km/250mi.

NASA’s The Earth: 4K Extended Edition offers ultra high definition views of Earth captured in 2016 by NASA astronaut Jeff Williams during an ISS mission.  You’ll see the French Riviera and the Sahara Desert, cross North America from Texas up to Canada, and more as the camera orbits Earth from 250 miles up.

NASA Astronaut Reid Wiseman served as Flight Engineer aboard the International Space Station for Expedition 41 from May through November of 2014, and in an episode of NASA video series Down to Earth, he explains his thoughts and feelings while seeing Earth from space — “I never imagined in my entire life getting to see something that beautiful”. 

In this December 6, 2017 Gravity Assist podcast, Jim Green, Director of Planetary Science at NASA, is joined by Tom Wagner of NASA’s Earth Science Division, to talk about the Earth, it’s sea ice and volcanoes, and how studying planets like Venus and Mars helps provide clues about the future of our home planet.  Just click/tap the play button ▶ to listen to the audio recording.

Want to see more from outer space?
It’s free to watch the Cosmos video on demand channel, a collection of On2In2™ selected ‘out-of-this-world’ short videos.

Take a look at these incredible views of the Universe
—- Mysteries of a Galaxy 

We’d love to hear from you! If you’d like to comment on this article, join the conversation, or share your inspiration, and you have not yet registered as an On2In2™ playmaker, please sign up via the ‘Engage page’.  Don’t worry, it’s pretty quick and easy (unless you’re a robot).

Feature photo courtesy of NASA, sourced from Unsplash CC0