Earth from space: 'Overview effect' could help troubled country, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says

Earthrise, as soon from lunar orbit by the Apollo 14 astronauts in 1971.

(Image credit: NASA)

Neil deGrasse Tyson thinks we could all use a strong dose of the overview effect right now.

"Amid the turbulence of a pandemic & racedemic, I offer this reflection on what Earth looks like from space, as only an Apollo astronaut can tell it," the astrophysicist and science communicator, who directs the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, said via Twitter on Saturday (May 30).

Tyson attached a screengrab of the following quote by moonwalker Edgar Mitchell, the lunar module pilot on NASA's Apollo 14 mission in 1971: "You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, 'Look at that, you son of a bitch.'"

Latest Videos From

Watch full video here:

"Normally, as CEO of The Planetary Society, with a crew having arrived safely at the International Space Station after a historic launch, I’d be going on about this wonderful achievement: Look at Earth from space. There are no boundaries. Humankind is one species, etc," Nye said via Twitter yesterday (June 1). (The mission he referred to here is SpaceX's first-ever crewed liftoff, the Demo-2 test flight to the ISS, which launched on Saturday.)

"Despite all the remarkable achievements of humankind, we are failing each other. We must address the very real problem of systemic violence toward Black people. The horrific murder of George Floyd and the countless others before him makes this issue more urgent than ever," Nye added. "We need to listen to those who have been speaking out against racism — for longer than we have been listening. We need diverse leadership, reformed policing and better educational and economic opportunities for the oppressed. We need these things because black lives matter. As I, and all of us here at The Planetary Society, reflect on these events, we vow to do our part to fight racism as we help advance space science and exploration for all of Earth’s citizens."

Michael was a science writer for the Idaho National Laboratory and has been an intern at Wired.com, The Salinas Californian newspaper, and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. He has also worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz.