Moonshot reinforces that we must protect our planet
Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window on April 6, during the Artemis II crew's flyby of the Moon. Credit: NASA/Handout/EPA/Shutterstock
There's nothing quite like being a quarter-million miles away to bring fresh perspective on the need to do more to safeguard our little planet.
The Artemis II crew was the latest group of spacefarers to discover that on their journey to the moon and back earlier this month. Jeremy Hansen, a mission specialist from Canada and one of four astronauts aboard the Orion craft, described the experience as "another level of amazing."
Postflight comments by Hansen and Americans Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover echoed reactions from an earlier generation of moon-bound astronauts known now as the "overview effect," coined by science author and philosopher Frank White to describe how humans' perspective of Earth changes when they have a chance to view it against the backdrop of the cosmos. When they have a chance, in other words, to see our marvelously blue marble set against what looks like an endless expanse of dark. Actor William Shatner of "Star Trek" fame, who participated in a Blue Origin suborbital flight in 2021, described it as "the blackness of space ... I believed I saw death."
The vantage from the moon's environs, a vista experienced by fewer than 30 humans, typically causes a profound shift in how they view our planet, our lives on it, and our place in the universe. It emphasizes the odds-defying reality that Earth is the only known sustainer of life, a precious island in an otherwise unforgiving universe. Not only is it our home, it is our only home.
Koch underscored that reality even as we usher in a new age of space exploration. "We will explore. We will build ships. We will visit again. We will construct science outposts," she said after Artemis II emerged from its pass around the far side of the moon and our planet came back into view. "We will inspire. But ultimately, we will always choose Earth. We will always choose each other."
I thought a lot about Artemis II during Earth Day celebrations this past week. Because Earth is indeed worth celebrating. It is unique. It is our shelter and our refuge. It is worth protecting as fiercely as we protect our own houses. But in important ways we are falling short.
There are moves afoot in this nation to roll back standards that have made our air cleaner and improved our health. Some want to reduce regulations that have helped the survival of many species facing extinction. Global warming proceeds apace.
We need to be better stewards of our exceptional home.
Fortunately, some changes provide reason for optimism.
In 2025, the growth in demand for electricity around the globe was met by the increase in clean power alone, the first time that's happened, according to global energy think tank Ember. And renewables passed coal as humanity's primary source of electricity.
Developers and operators of U.S. power plants plan to add a record 86 gigawatts of utility-scale electric generating capacity to the grid this year, of which 93% will be solar, battery storage or wind, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In March, renewables provided more energy than gas in the United States, the first time that's happened. With the war in Iran rattling global energy markets, 50 countries set records last month for importing solar equipment from China, the world's largest such supplier.
And three of the world's four largest emitters of carbon — China, the United States, India and the European Union — saw declines in energy emissions and coal use. The outlier? The United States.
The overall picture of advances and regressions is more muddled than the Artemis II view of the beautiful pulsing blue orb we call home. We owe it to ourselves and all who will follow to do better.
Columnist Michael Dobie is a retired member of the Newsday editorial board.
Michael Dobie is a retired member of the Newsday editorial board.
