Latest news with #Earthrise
Channel 4
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Channel 4
Earth Day: What do outer space and deep oceans have in common?
A free Earth Day exhibition took place this week, right under the garish streetscreens of Piccadilly Circus in central London. Organised by Space For A Better World and Space For Art Foundation, a series of film screenings brought together scientists, storytellers, astronauts, and ocean advocates in one big event: Ocean, Culture, Life. The purpose? To connect our deep seas with space in our minds, and in just the three days of the show, well over 15,000 people will have visited, the organisers say. So deep oceans to space? What's the connection? Well, it's all based around Earth Day which began 55 years ago. First and foremost, it's often said by critics that little comes from space travel beyond enormous amounts of carbon pollution, and the litter and detritus that we increasingly discard once we leave our planet. You might say, this is also a repeat of the past mistakes that we've made on our own blue, lonely orb in space. But Earth Day was invented precisely because of space travel. As one of the organisers reminded me, when astronauts first went to the moon, what they discovered was Earth, looking back. Those first extraordinary shots of our lonely blue circle in the blackness have become a common badge, an emblem of our shared humanity, and perhaps in some ways, our shared failure to protect our precious globe. It was US President Richard Nixon who in 1970, having seen the famous Earthrise photo, introduced the concept of Earth Day and along with it enacted the Environmental Protection Agency to protect our fragile blue marble…another American institution now being remorselessly hollowed out to a husk by the Trump administration. That same administration seeks to deny the very physics that put astronauts into space and indeed onto the moon in the first place. So this three-day exhibition around Earth Day is not without its ironies. Astronauts dive in deep water as part of their training And that connection between our deep oceans and deep space? Well, of course, all astronauts work under deep water as part of their training. All of them, we were told, say that scuba diving is at least an integral part of becoming an astronaut, but for many, remains a hobby as well. The Moon, of course, exerts her pull on our tides. The connections are many and endless, but it is a truism that we likely know more about the surface of the Moon than we do about the seabed of our deepest oceans. So integral connections mingle with the growing evidence of the damage we are doing to our planet and the political will for some to 'drill baby, drill', as the White House shouts. As American Christina Korp, one of the organisers of this three-day event readily admits, she hopes it would be possible to put an exhibition like this on in the United States in the current political atmosphere – but she also says it's certainly a great deal easier to put it on in London. Climate scepticism still exists in the UK That's not to say that we are immune from those who would deny the evidence of our changing temperatures and seasons. Here in the UK the coming May elections are likely to see a surge in support for Reform, who, like the newly-led Conservatives under Kemi Badenoch, also seek to delay the urgent action on climate that scientists say is necessary. A YouGov opinion poll says that 84% of people in the UK accept c limate change is a reality, and there are similar large majorities across the board for the push to net zero. But the extraordinary thing, in a way, is that we shouldn't be polling questions like this at all. It is, after all, a matter of established scientific fact – and asking people how they feel or what they believe about this is like asking people whether they believe in gravity. It's of passing interest for the political debate of course, what people believe or not, but climate change like gravity, is there whatever we may feel. As the first American woman to do a spacewalk, Dr Kathy Sullivan puts it: 'People know what is happening, of course they do. But often they don't want to abandon the lifestyle, the normality, they have been used to.' – Dr Kathy Sullivan A masterly British understatement from a former US astronaut based in Ohio. Will optimism prevail? So this extraordinary and free exhibition, peopled by astronauts, features London's biggest high-definition screens of undersea life, whales, turtles and jellyfish mingling with the paraphernalia of space exploration. The message is that both help us understand the other, and that both deep sea exploration and space exploration bring enormous benefits to the planet, in spite of the current political climate back home in the US. Kathy retired from space exploration to head up NOAA, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A crucial interface between the learnings and observations of space and weather/climate research. Currently it too is undergoing evisceration by the Trump administration. She shrugs with that extraordinary positivity and can-do optimism that only astronauts used to fulfilling complex space missions can have. Her response is that the US private sector will likely pick up a role for data from space which is vital to the US economy – not least farmers hard pressed by climate change, which their government largely denies or downplays. Alongside her, fellow astronaut Nicole Stott. I ask what would happen if they could take world leadership to the space station? Both agree that after, say, a week contemplating Earth while also working so closely together, an extraordinary new focus might arise. Maybe. Maybe not. But it might be more profitable than sending minor celebs up there for a spin.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Only Photo of Neil Armstrong on the Moon and Other Famed Space Images Are Headed to Auction
One small step for man, one giant addition to your treasure trove of collectibles. The only photo of Neil Armstrong on the moon is heading to auction next month via Bonhams. The sale, For All Mankind: The Artistic Legacy of Early Space Exploration, will include 449 other NASA photographs—some of which are previously unknown—from the collection of Victor Martin-Malburet, a space historian who uncovered some of the rare snapshots in archives and collections of former NASA engineers over 25 years. More from Robb Report A Rare Michael Jordan Autographed Card and a Slew of Sports Treasures Have Hit the Auction Block Virgin Galactic's New 6-Person Spacecraft Will Launch Next Year An Anonymous Musician's Bonkers Collection of Wines Is Heading to Auction Taken by Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon, the Armstrong photo shows the famed astronaut standing beside the Lunar Module Eagle, which is what took the crew into space on the Apollo 11 mission. Expected to fetch between $20,000 and $27,000, the image was discovered 17 years after the 1969 historic trip made Armstrong the first man to walk on the moon. The astronaut was also behind the camera on the Apollo 11 mission. The first snapshot Armstrong took on the lunar surface is also up for grabs in the auction, estimated to hammer down for between $7,600 and $11,000. After taking that famed first step, the astronaut was supposed to collect a contingency lunar sample in case of an emergency return, Bonhams says. Instead, Armstrong decided to take the first photo on the moon. Another notable memento up for grabs is the first photograph of Earthrise, which is an image that shows both the Earth and part of the moon's surface. Astronaut William Anders took the black-and-white snapshot during the Apollo 8 mission on Christmas Eve in December 1968; it's expected to fetch anywhere from to $13,000 to $19,000. 'The Apollo astronauts captured humanity's greatest dream through their cameras,' Sabine Cornette de Saint Cyr, head of the Bonhams sale, said in a press statement. 'Their photographs will forever symbolize the beginning of our expansion into the universe. Today, space exploration is once again a burning topic. It was only natural for Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr to present these undisputed masterpieces of the 20th century to collectors, as they continue to fascinate and enrich our imagination.' Alongside these historic images, other space collector's items going under the hammer include the first selfie in space, taken by Buzz Aldrin on the 1966 Gemini 12 mission ($8,700 to $13,000); the first photograph taken in space by humans, which was captured by John Glenn during Friendship 7's first orbit in 1962 ($4,400 to $6,700); and the first snapshot of a human in space, taken by James McDivitt during the first American spacewalk on Gemini 4 ($1,600 to $2,200). For All Mankind: The Artistic Legacy of Early Space Exploration will be held online from April 14 to 28 in Paris, so you won't have to wait long to hopefully add the memorabilia to your collection. You could take some stellar space photographs for yourself soon enough, thanks to an wide variety of space-tourism programs that are on the horizon. Virgin Galactic's new six-person spacecraft is gearing up to take civilians to space in the fall of 2026, while Space Perspective's Spaceship Neptune balloon also hopes to have consumers hop aboard next year. And Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin also has its eyes set on the stars. Best get your camera ready, then. Click here to read the full article.
New York Times
28-02-2025
- Science
- New York Times
Earth to Young Readers: Take a Look at Me From Space
'Earthrise' begins with a quotation from William Anders, who, as a member of the first crew to circle the moon, took the photo that gives the book its title and its framework: 'We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.' Anders's 1968 image of the delicate blue-and-white-marbled Earth emerging out of the dark, above the slate-gray horizon line of the moon, riveted viewers around the world. It would soon grace the cover of the Whole Earth Catalog, help to inspire Earth Day and focus the ecological awareness of a generation. Leonard S. Marcus's challenge was to bring that sense of wonder and discovery to young readers who know the space race only through history books. I am happy to report that he has succeeded in meeting that challenge. 'Earthrise' captures the fast-paced drama of America's competition with the Soviets to reach the moon, as it recounts the hold-your-breath excitement of those pioneering missions. For young people who love engines and technical detail, it maps how rockets, boosters and stages were crafted for each type of flight. For history buffs, it glides, like a Ken Burns documentary, from a specific topic to the temper of the time. Best of all, it demonstrates the pleasure of browsing through a treasure trove of photographs to reveal the enduring power of a single image. Marcus puts his knowledge as a historian of illustrated books for children to excellent use here. We see the Earthrise image in color on the cover, and then again in black and white as a frontispiece. Next, we encounter two similar shots: one from the Apollo 11 mission, the other snapped by an unmanned lunar orbiter. Together, the three images announce that this is not just a book about one photo: Steppingstones will lead us to a larger story. As we look at additional space-related artifacts and their captions, the longer written narrative (in effect the audio tour) carries us along. Visual storytelling is a distinct feature of youth nonfiction — and a treat if the author, like Marcus, has an eye for images that will spark interest and keep readers turning the pages. The tale begins in 1957, with the Soviets' surprise launch into Earth's orbit of the first human-built satellite, Sputnik 1, sporting antennas that resemble 'cat's whiskers.' We experience Americans' fear as the Soviets continue to be one step ahead of us, sending a dog, then a man, then a woman into orbit, and unmanned spacecraft to the moon. President John F. Kennedy's 1961 assertion that the United States should commit itself, 'before this decade is out,' to 'landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth' sets a deadline. NASA and its engineers press the limits of technology and skill to accomplish the mission, and are met with danger, failures and tragedy along the way. Marcus's smooth prose takes us quickly through the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. A schematic depicts the internal construction of the massive Saturn V rocket, with the first engine powerful enough to hurl astronauts to the moon. There is plenty of human interest as well. We get to know Anders, Frank Borman and James Lovell — the crew of Apollo 8 — as individuals, from boyhood on. Marcus tracks how the American space program intersected with the social and cultural crosscurrents of the '60s. He mentions, in a note, the 'Mercury 13' — a baker's dozen of highly capable women who successfully completed a training program and were found to be 'as well suited as the men NASA was selecting to crew its space missions, if not more so,' but were not chosen to fly — and cites, through the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., questions that were raised about the value of the space program amid urgent human needs on Earth. He says enough about these issues to begin a conversation, but he might have gone further, adding material, for example, on why all of NASA's early 'folk heroes' were white and male. And also on why the Soviets were initially so successful yet failed to reach the moon. Today, political slogans emphasize nativism and boundaries, not connections and shared destinies. But for a brief moment in time, as Marcus reminds us, the Earthrise photo radically shifted our perspective, enabling us to see the fragile beauty of humankind's home and the critical importance of joining together to protect it. By the time I finished the book, I couldn't help thinking of Keats's sonnet about his changed worldview after reading George Chapman's English translations of the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey': 'Then felt I like some watcher of the skies/When a new planet swims into his ken.' Only in this case the planet, seen anew, is Earth.
