It’s a Beautiful World In 1990, Carl Sagan convinced NASA to turn one camera of Voyager One around and take a picture that has become known as the Pale Blue Dot. It is the furthest picture ever taken of our planet. The first iconic picture of the earth seen from space was taken in 1972 by an astronaut on Apollo 17 (the final mission of the Apollo program). I have had the pleasure to travel a bit over that Blue Marble. I have walked the grounds of Chichén Itzá, a 10th century Mayan city, which was one of the architectural wonders of its time. I have marveled at the sight of the Taj Mahal, built in the 17th century and until today described by many as the most beautiful building on the planet. I got to these places by plane,an invention attributed to the Wright brothers in the20th century, and which has driven us to having, on average, 10,000 planes in the sky at any given moment. Technological advancements have given us the ability to construct the most beautiful buildings, reach any place on earth, and has put men on the moon (we are still waiting for the first female astronaut to set foot on the moon, although we got close, since a female astronaut would have been the commander of Apollo 19 had it not been canceled). Despite having access to various travel options, today hundreds of millions of people are staying home. As the summer is approaching, people will want to get out more, go on holidays, see the world. Many of us will skip the summer holiday this year and try to experience what our planet has to offer in different ways; the Blue Marble through the eyes of writers, documentary makers, comedians. When I look up tonight, I may be able to see Crew Dragon, SpaceX’s first manned mission, on its way to the International Space Station. If the timing is just right, they may be able to give us another one of those iconic pictures. June 2020
Column Peter
“the Blue Marble through the eyes of writers, documentary makers, comedians.” –Peter
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