4:30am: They're taking a pause during the Space Shuttle coverage right now, so the video has switched to a live feed showing the Planet Earth from the International Space Station. It's an awesome view as craft passes quickly over the cloud-covered Earth.
Watching this scene immediately changes my perspective from everyday stuff to much grander thoughts about the future of humanity and the people who are making it happen.
I think it would be great if every child was encouraged to experience this view of the Earth for at least an hour every month for the first 10 years of their life. Not only would it be very exciting, but I bet it would totally open their minds to the big picture. We need to start priming our population for the prospect and excitement of becoming a space-faring species.
In the time it took me to write this small blog entry, the ISS has moved from daylight into nighttime, and now all you can see is a glimmer of light over the Earth's horizon. It is truly majestic.
World Wind and the other NASA learning technologies were, I think, inspired by Al Gore's Digital Earth Initiative, ref the second link below, esp the paragraph beginning "Imagine, for example, a young child going to a Digital Earth exhibit at a local museum."
http://learn.arc.nasa.gov/
http://www.digitalearth.gov/VP19980131.html
Posted by: Christopher St. John | Aug 09, 2005 at 12:14 PM