A View from Space
3 years, 9 months, 17 days, 1 hour
5 October 2025
Acute short-termism is a disease endemic to our (mostly) stupid species.
‘Civilisation is a gift of geology.’
I owe this beautiful quote to a dear friend, who has long been a student of astronomy, and whose interest in what lies beyond our planet, reinforces his understanding of how precious is our celestial home.
His perspective draws on the knowledge and images of many decades of planetary exploration which he has witnessed through his life. The famous image attached to this piece is Earthrise from Apollo 8, photographed at Christmas 1968 by NASA astronaut Bill Anders, who 50 years later said "We set out to explore the moon and instead discovered the Earth”. And that mission to understand the Earth from space continues today with the recent collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), whose NISAR Earth-observing radar satellite, the most powerful ever launched, returned its first images last month: JPL News 25 September 2025.
Perhaps our ever increasing knowledge of our Earth will cause us to do what is necessary to protect it, rather than pursue fantastical ideas to populate (and presumably then ruin) another planet instead. But my friend is not optimistic: ‘We are now entering or are in the Sixth [known] Extinction Event, greedily flailing around our wrecking ball in pursuit of short-term wealth and power, regardless of the thousands of species we kill and lose. Acute short-termism is a disease endemic to our (mostly) stupid species.’
Our problem, sadly, is not knowledge, but the collective will to act on that knowledge: ‘Around me I see mostly gross indifference, or at best helplessness.’
