“From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of particular interest. But for us, it's different. Consider again that dot. Th...
“From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of particular interest. But for us, it's different. Consider again that dot. That's here, that's home, that's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.nThe Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. nOur posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. nThe Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. nIt has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”nCarl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space, 1994.nnThis video features the latest time lapse sequences photographed by the crew aboard the International Space Station (including 2012 update) nIt shows off both the stars and our home planet dancing to the rhythm of the Waltz of the Flowers (from The Nutcracker Suite, by Tchaikovsky)nnmusic Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71A - Waltz Of The Flowers - TchaikovskynPerforming by Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra.nEiji Oue , conductor.nnImage Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, nNASA Johnson Space Center, The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earthnhttp://eol.jsc.nasa.govnnThe time lapse pictures and videos used are:nAurora Borealis over Western EuropenIndian Ocean to Pacific Ocean Through the Cupola nOver Spain at Night nAcross the United States at Night nAurora Borealis over Eastern North America nStars from the ISSnISS near Aurora BorealisnCity Lights over Eastern United StatesnNorth America to South Atlantic OceannCity Lights from Central Africa to Middle East nAurora Australis over the Indian OceannDirectly Over Aurora Australis nCity Lights over Middle East nn"What beauty. I saw clouds and their light shadows on the distant dear earth.... The water looked like darkish, slightly gleaming spots.... When I watched the horizon, I saw the abrupt, contrasting transition from the earth's light-colored surface to the absolutely black sky. I enjoyed the rich color spectrum of the earth. It is surrounded by a light blue aureole that gradually darkens, becoming turquiose, dark blue, violet, and finally coal black.n— Yuri Gagarin (Юрий Алексеевич Гагарин)" Less
