Our reason for being

Since the beginning, astronaut missions have focused on science and exploration.

But one of their most profound discoveries is the cognitive shift they experience from looking back at Earth from space.

This is the Overview Effect, and we’re opening it to everyone.

 
Our mission

We send purpose-driven leaders to space.

A social impact non-profit, Space for Humanity serves purpose-driven leaders through a sponsored spaceflight experience to create a profound shift in perspective, so that each citizen astronaut returns with a grander perspective to address our most intractable challenges and their solutions.

Citizen Astronaut Program About us
 

The Overview Perspective

 

“Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty, not destroy it!”

Yuri Gagarin
First Human in Space

 

Astronauts viewing the Earth from space often experience the profound beauty, fragility, and interconnectedness of our home planet. After having this experience, astronauts often come back down with a completely new perspective. 

Psychologists call this shift in worldview, The Overview Effect. 

These astronauts gain an understanding of the miraculousness of life, and the uniqueness of our existence. They recognize that, as humans, our commonalities far outweigh our differences.

This awe-inspiring perspective reframes our understanding of the Cosmos, and our relationship with our home planet and each other. 

The Overview Perspective plays a vital role in helping us cultivate a future of sustainable peace and prosperity for all of humanity.

What astronauts report

  • The actual experience exceeds all expectations … All these things that may seem big and impossible … We can do this. Peace on Earth — No problem. It gives people that type of energy … that type of power, and I have experienced that.

    Anousheh Ansari
    First Iranian Woman to go to space

  • This was the most profound experience of my life. I had always believed Space was a tool for transformation. Now I know viscerally that this is true and I am even more committed to getting as many people as possible to experience its life changing effect.

    Dylan Taylor
    S4H Founder & Blue Origin Astronaut

  • When we look down at the earth from space, we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet. It looks like a living, breathing organism. But it also, at the same time, looks extremely fragile… Anybody else who’s ever gone to space says the same thing because it really is striking and it’s really sobering to see this paper-thin layer and to realize that that little paper-thin layer is all that protects every living thing on Earth from death, basically. From the harshness of space.

    Ron Garan
    NASA Astronaut & S4H Advisor

  • You don't see the barriers of color and religion and politics that divide this world. You wonder, if you could get everyone in the world up there, wouldn't they have a different feeling, a new perspective?

    Eugene A. Cernan
    Gemini 9, Apollo 10 & Apollo 17

  • I really believe that if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance of 100,000 miles, their outlook would be fundamentally changed. That all-important border would be invisible, that noisy argument suddenly silenced.

    Michael Collins
    Gemini 10 & Apollo 11

  • Any person who has been in space values his own place on Earth in a new way. He begins to think more, and his thoughts become broader and his spirit kinder.

    Anatoly N. Berezovoy
    Soyuz T-5

  • But I think the biggest thing in going around the Earth is that your perspective really changes. You look down and see land you can identify. You don’t see any of the borders, you don’t see any of the cultures, you don't see the different languages, and it just flows right on in.

    Byron K. Lichtenberg
    STS9, STS45

  • I felt that space was so fascinating and that a flight through it wasso thrilling and so overwhelming that I only wished I could get up the next morning and go through the whole thing all over again.

    Malcolm Scott Carpenter
    Aurora 7

Explore the wonder of the Overview Effect with these resources

 
 

Overview

The Planetary Collective

"Overview" is a short film that explores the Overview Effect phenomenon through interviews with five astronauts who have experienced it. The film also features insights from commentators and thinkers on the wider implications and importance of this understanding for society, and our relationship to the environment.

The Planetary Collective
 
 
Buy the feature film PLANETARY: http://www.vimeo.com/ondemand/planetary For more info about PLANETARY and Planetary Collective visit http://www.weareplanetary.com. On the 40th anniversary of the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph taken of Earth from space, Planetary Collective presents a short film documenting astronauts’ life-changing stories of seeing the Earth from the outside – a perspective-altering experience often described as the Overview Effect. The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronauts’ perspective of the planet and mankind’s place upon it. Common features of the experience are a feeling of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment. ‘Overview’ is a short film that explores this phenomenon through interviews with five astronauts who have experienced the Overview Effect. The film also features insights from commentators and thinkers on the wider implications and importance of this understanding for society, and our relationship to the environment. CAST • EDGAR MITCHELL – Apollo 14 astronaut and founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences • RON GARAN – ISS astronaut and founder of humanitarian organization Fragile Oasis • NICOLE STOTT – Shuttle and ISS astronaut and member of Fragile Oasis • JEFF HOFFMAN – Shuttle astronaut and senior lecturer at MIT • SHANE KIMBROUGH – Shuttle/ISS astronaut and Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army • FRANK WHITE – space theorist and author of the book ‘The Overview Effect’ • DAVID LOY- philosopher and author • DAVID BEAVER – philosopher and co-founder of The Overview Institute ———- CREW Producer: STEVE KENNEDY Director: GUY REID Editor: STEVE KENNEDY Director of Photography: CHRISTOPHER FERSTAD Original Score: HUMAN SUITS Dubbing Mixer: PATCH MORRISON ———- TECHNICAL INFORMATION Filmed with Canon 5D Mk ii. Additional footage from NASA / ESA archives Duration: 19 minutes ———- Planetary Collective: http://www.planetarycollective.com/ Overview Microsite: http://www.overviewthemovie.com/ Human Suits (original score): http://www.humansuits.com/ For more information: The Overview Institute: http://www.overviewinstitute.org/ Fragile Oasis: http://www.fragileoasis.org/
Book cover of Frank White's "The Overview Effect"
 
 

The Overview Effect

Frank White

Originally coined by Frank White, the Overview Effect has helped provide astronauts with concepts and language to articulate the profound shift in worldview they experience when viewing the Earth from space and in space.

Now, much of the world has adopted this framework in describing our innate interconnectedness. Frank and the Overview Effect are part of the fabric of our mission at Space for Humanity.

Buy the book About Frank

See what the astronauts see