Earth: Our Home Planet

The first pictures of Planet Earth from above the atmosphere were taken on October 24, 1946. The photographs were taken from an altitude of 65 miles over the Earth by a V-2 missile that was launched from the White Sands Missile Range. The blurry, monochromatic photographs clearly showed the curve of the Earth's surface, though from that low altitude only a partial view of the planet was possible.

It was not until 1961, with the start of NASA manned spaceflights, that the world began to see amazing photographs of our planet from space –- photographs that transformed everything.

To view our planet from space meant gaining a perspective never before available to mankind. From space no arbitrary boundaries, no borders, no racial or religious divides are to be seen. Instead we see that our home planet is a shining blue-green ball hanging in the darkness of Space.

Even from Space, the fact of ever-present life is clear: 77% of the Earth’s surface is covered with sparkling blue water; white-cloud weather forms swirl around the globe; and the glorious textures of green signal the flourishing of photosynthesis-based plant forms.

On December 24, 1968 astronaut William A. Anders snapped a famous photograph from the Apollo 8 spacecraft in lunar orbit as it came around the far side of the moon. NASA commander Frank Borman shouted, "Oh my God, look at that picture over there! Here’s the Earth coming up!"

Earthrise, as this photo was called, is surely one of the most stunning and evocative images ever taken of the Earth from Space. We see the blue-green abundance of our life-filled home contrasting with the barren lunar landscape below, set against the backdrop of vast and empty Space.

Noted outdoors photographer Galen Rowell has called this image "the most influential environmental photograph ever taken."

Perhaps we are habituated, after all these years. A NASA website catalogs some 745,000 photographs of the planet from space. Yet these photographs evoke a sense of place in a way that language cannot. These photographs can call up again that sense of awe we experienced when we first viewed Earthrise –- and to indelibly and unforgettably help us remember how vast and beautiful and vulnerable is this Earth.

Artist Lance Hidy has said that the photographs of the planet from Space changed things forever. We can no longer ignore the vulnerability of Earth, nor the need to cooperate to effectively take care of the environment.

Saving the Earth.net provides an extensive collection of selected and recommended books on numerous aspects of global warming and our current planetary crisis. These books include academic texts, manifestos, scientific works, popular environmental books, and the best of nature writing. It is put forward with the confidence and conviction that it is possible to learn from our errors and find a way to work together to create a healthier planet Earth.