American Astronaut Scott Kelly has spent a lot of time in space. A veteran of four space flights, he commanded the International Space Station on Expeditions 26, 45 and 46. Prior to going into space, Kelley was subjected to intense training—not just for spaceflight, but for the specific scientific or exploratory missions he was trying to accomplish. Days, weeks, months in books and manuals, meetings, simulators, testing, medical and physical exams… You can easily forget the grand vision of being an astronaut among the mountain of details.
Kelly comments on his first trip into space: “Twenty minutes after I got into space on that first flight, I happened to stare out the window, by accident almost, and I saw something on the horizon that I didn’t recognize. I had no idea what it was. I turned to the commander of the space shuttle and said: ‘What the hell is that?’ and he says ‘That’s the surprise.’ As the sun came up, I was absolutely blown away by how incredibly beautiful our planet earth is. Absolutely breathtaking. Like someone took the most brilliant blue paint and painted a mural right in front of my eyes. I knew right then and there that I would never, ever see anything as beautiful as planet earth again.”[1]
Astronauts since the very first days of spaceflight have spoken of the profound effect that seeing the earth from space had on them. On July 16, 1969, astronaut Buzz Aldrin commented looking back from the command module of Apollo 11 that earth was “a brilliant jewel in the black velvet sky.”[2] This state of mental clarity on seeing the totality of earth at once is called “the overview effect”. Even though most of us will never leave the earth for space, we know that all of life, everything we value, all of our time and relationships and culture, exists in a closed system called earth.
Astronauts on Apollo 8 took this photo of the earth while orbiting the moon. It shocked the world at the time as nobody had ever seen the earth from such a distance in space.
Those few who see it from space, from afar, are profoundly influenced. Ivan De Luce writes that the overview effect is “when you are flung so far away from earth that you become totally overwhelmed and awed by the fragility and unity of life on our blue globe. It’s the uncanny sense of understanding the ‘big picture,’ and of feeling connected to and yet bigger than the intricate processes bubbling on earth.”
On the Apollo 8 mission, leading up to the moon landing, a spacecraft would circle the moon for the first time. During the trip Astronaut Bill Anders turned his camera back to the earth from lunar orbit and captured the earth rising above the surface of the moon. The famous picture, called Earthrise, was shocking, even for those watching on television. Until that point no one had ever seen the earth as a small object from space. Anders said, “When we originally went to the moon, our total focus was on the moon. We weren’t thinking about looking back at the Earth. But now that we’ve done it, that may well have been the most important reason we went.”
Seeing the big picture. What does the overview effect mean to the average person? Though most of us will never have a view of the naked earth from space, we are reminded by Scripture that there is indeed a “big picture”. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Despite the myriad of peoples, borders, disagreements, cultures, squabbles, conflicts, shortages and so much more, we are indeed part of a bigger purpose and plan. While astronauts found inspiration in seeing the earth as a whole, we can know the Creator of the earth, and in knowing Him understand that He has a role for us in the “big picture”.
A sense of responsibility. Astronauts looking back at the earth speak of the fragility of our planet—it’s the only one we have and so we should not squander it or destroy it. The overview effect gives them a greater sense of responsibility toward both the planet and its occupants. Scripture also details our responsibilities toward one another and our home. Colossians 3:23 instructs, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men”. Whatever our role—leader, worker, father, son, inventor, writer, teacher, technician, mentor, influencer—we should do it to the very best of our ability. It is in our relationship with God that the average non-astronaut can find his sense of responsibility, to faith, family and society.
The small room on the International Space Station lined with windows is called the cupola. It offers spectacular views of the earth for orbiting astronauts.
A dose of humility. The view of earth from space his awe-inspiring and humbling. When one considers his place as a single person out of eight billion, one might wonder what, if any, tangible difference he could make. Since the “space race” began in 1961, just 556 people have experienced the overview effect. An even smaller number, just 24, have seen the earth from lunar orbit shrink to the size of a wristwatch in their spacecraft’s window. James 4:10 reminds the earthbound, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” Humility, too, is a God-given trait that we find when consider our existence against the plans, Person and power of the God we serve.
Many astronauts have commented of their experience with the overview effect:
“The vast loneliness up here of the moon is awe inspiring, and it makes you realize just what you have back there on earth. The earth from here is a grand oasis to the big vastness of space.”—Jim Lovell
“It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.” —Neil Armstrong
“When we look down at the earth from space, we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet. It looks like a living, breathing organism. But it also, at the same time, looks extremely fragile… Anybody else who’s ever gone to space says the same thing because it really is striking and it’s really sobering to see this paper-thin layer and to realize that that little paper-thin layer is all that protects every living thing on earth from death, basically.” —Ron Garan
“You do, from that perspective, see the earth as a planet. You see the sun as a star—we see the sun in a blue sky, but up there, you see the sun in a black sky. So, yeah, you are seeing it from the cosmic perspective.” —Jeff Hoffman
“The world itself looks cleaner and so much more beautiful. Maybe we can make it that way – the way God intended it to be—by giving everyone, eventually, that new perspective from out in space.” —Roger Chaffee
“When I first looked back at the earth, standing on the moon, I cried.” —Alan Shepard
Though few of us will ever see the earth from space, all of us have the opportunity to view our planet from God’s vantage point, because we have His Word, and His Spirit living in us. In this way we can know, to some extent, God’s greater plan. We can grow in our capacity to view ourselves in proper perspective. If the overview effect had such a profound effect on the astronauts, we too can ponder if God’s overview effect might influence our sense of purpose, direction, progress and influence on our world.
Howard D. Schultz is an American businessman and author. He served as Chairman and CEO of Starbucks from 1986 to 2000, and again from 2008 to 2017, and in 2022-2023. He was named one of the World’s Richest People by Forbes with a net worth in 2020 of $4.3 billion.