"The Blue Marble"



As a child, the wonder and excitement of space and space travel was one of my intellectual and emotional highlights. I read everything about astronomy and stars and planets I could get my hands on. I wanted to be an astronaut so bad, even though I got glasses in the second grade. My favorite movie for many years was Space Camp (for some reason I'm getting a feeling that I've mentioned this before.)

Living in the city, I never did get to see stars all that often, but every once in awhile, there would be a drive in the countryside surrounding my hometown. Out there, you could see a myriad stars all twinkling above me. I truely am saddened by the many thousands and millions of children who live in urban areas so filled with light pollution that man's excesses wipe out the sheer beauty and wonderment of the night sky. Once, I had the pleasure of taking a date out past the light pollution of Houston (a considerable distance) and just stopping the car somewhere in the middle of some backroad turnoff, sitting on the hood of my car, talking and watching a meteor shower.

As a kid, I was drawn toward space from a highly scientific angle but also from an excitement of the unknown. Years later, my draw is more emotional and thoughtful. I cannot help but see a picture like the above and not think of the connectiveness we all share. One small shining globe in the vastness of space containing all of us. Spaceship Earth. I cannot contemplate the twinkling stars without wondering who else is out there. When I view the stars, I am humbled.

Isn't it beautiful? I have seen many photos of the Earth from space but this is one of the most beautiful. As tumultuous our world seems, I am filled with a bit of peace and serenity gazing upon such images. When I really stop to contemplate it, I almost get a tear, I get so emotionally worked up. Love, hate, hope, dispair, friends, enemies, laughter, sadness...everything about us captured.

In one shining picture.
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The above picture is a thumbnail taken from a NASA archive entitled "A Blue Marble". Many of the images are quite large but I believe few people would be disappointed. Please click on the image for a larger size to understand more of what I see but even then it is still not as immense and breathtaking as the one here.