“To carry the light of life to places now dark, the seeds of life to places now dead, and the eyes, hands and minds of humanity to places yet unseen, untouched and unknown.”
EarthLight is an Idea – and a Cause
The beautiful shot of the “little blue marble” from the Apollo 8 missions shifted our perspective of Earth and humanity and enabled us to appreciate our tiny home’s delicacy and fragility. The term “spaceship Earth” is more than a metaphor or analogy to us. Just as our MotherWorld exists in a bubble of life she created, as we begin to launch our smaller “bubbles” out into the cosmos, they offer tiny analogs for most of the lessons we need to learn down here. The spaceships, stations, and communities we will build in space have much to teach us.
For example, in space, if we mistreat our life support systems, we die. If we do not use everything we have carefully, recycle and reuse all we can, we die. If we do not work as one crew, with honor, respect, and trust in each other as if we are one family, we die.
Think of it this way – few people are more aware of the environment than a person floating above a window with the Earth below, re-breathing her own air, and re-drinking her own recycled urine.
Or like this – there is no tighter “family” of people who must utterly trust and respect each other in both calm and crisis, than those locked in a tiny bubble of life in which all depend on one another to survive.
EarthLight supports today’s environmental movement.
In many ways, EarthLight represents the environmental movement of space.
Yet, we go beyond being “pro-environment” as our goal is not just to save the MotherWorld, but to expand her life into the Solar System and Universe.
For example, we endorse the goal of getting the planet to net-zero carbon emissions and generally reducing the toxicity and destruction of many human interactions with our biosphere. We also believe that we can use space not just to study the dangers facing Earth but to help save her.
First, we have to “clean up” our own act. As much as it can teach us, in its early days, the space community and industry have reflected our culture’s general ignorance and disdain for our role as part of Earth’s ecosystem. Just as in society, it has been dominated by a primitive “use it and throw it away” mentality. Worse, it has often been true that the incentives and policies of the governments that have dominated space activities encouraged maximum waste, built-in obsolescence, and rewards for short-term planning and design.
This is the first part of EarthLight’s task. EarthLight is working to change this old conversation and mindset within the space community and industry. Thus, at times, we will highlight and work to change these old space ways of thinking, and programs, projects, and policies that continue ways that need to be left behind.
EarthLight supports the respect of, inclusion, and leadership of all human beings. For the first time, we take from no one and give new hope to all.
EarthLight recognizes that the opening of the High Frontier is like no other expansion or human movement in history. For the first time, we have the chance to explore and open New Worlds as one humanity, not taking it from other people but working together as one people to create new places for all to live and prosper. Inclusion, diversity, and celebrating our differences even as we all rise together are at the center of our beliefs and, if needed, are causes for which we will fight.
EarthLight is about looking inward and outward.
A universe of possibility awaits us.
Coming from a space perspective enables EarthLighters to apply both the micro and macro lessons the opening of this new domain offers us. At the macro level, space provides the ability to study, understand, and act on challenges the human economy is causing to the planet as a whole.
At a more micro and personal level, EarthLighters are called to be their “higher selves.” Be it the spiritual transformation known as the Overview Effect – felt by those who bathe in EarthLight and look back on Gia from space – or to feel the wonder and power of the gift of life the MotherWorld gives us, or the understanding of our absolute union with and responsibility to one another, our goals are not just to expand the domain of life, but the domain of our own lives.
EarthLight is about all of us and all about you. It is time to rise above what you have been and embrace what you can become.
Since the beginning of the space age, the people making space “happen” have often been seen as having the Right Stuff. We believe we all have the Right Stuff. Now we can all step through the airlock and prove it.
Honor, duty, responsibility, compassion, a dedication to science, reason, and the celebration of living life as an exploration driven by love rather than fear are the traits EarthLight seeks and offers to all who join us.
