Cooper Green Design | The Blog

“It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.” — Neil Armstrong

“We can see our planet earth with detachment, with tenderness, with some shame and pity, but at last also with love.” — Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Earth Shine, 1969.

Earth - NASA satellite image

1946 was our first glimpse of the earth from space. Grainy black and white photos were taken with a 35 millimeter camera on a V-2 missile. (Smithsonian Air & Space has a great description along with a photo gallery and video). These images and others taken in the following years had a profound impact on how we view ourselves and our home.

The above image is one that I’ve used for years in education and training workshops. It is a NASA satellite image that was given to me by a colleague from Australia. I love using it in the United States because the image is so dynamic, allowing North Americans to view it without the distraction of identifying our own geographical home on the Earth. (This image shows Africa, the Middle East, and Antarctica.)

For more earth day eye candy, check out NASA’s Visible Earth site, which contains a catalog of images and a composite Earth: The Blue Marble, a composite image with exceptional detail and color. For more quotes, check out this site.

Happy Earth Day!

On a separate note, Cooper Green Design | The Blog has a backlog of posts, including the remaining posts in the World Expo Series. I’ll correct this soon and have them up this week. Thanks for your patience and as always, thanks for following.