Imagine looking down at the Earth from the International Space Station. Suddenly you are detached from your entire life, which exists on this blue marble that now appears far away. Such a transformational experience has been known to produce a very intense emotional response in astronauts.
In fact the response is so universal amongst astronauts that in 1987, Frank White gave this experience a name, “The Overview Effect”, after interviewing dozens of astronauts.
The overview effect: it has been hailed as the most positive impact of space exploration and understood as a truly transformative experience for astronauts. The overview effect is a shift in mental consciousness that occurs when an astronaut is able to gaze at the Earth from space. It is described as a “self-transcendent” experience that cannot be replicated from the perspective of Earth’s surface. Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell described the effect as an “overwhelming sense of oneness and connectedness...accompanied by an ecstasy...an epiphany” (White 1987, p.38). When refused free time to look out at the Earth from their vantage point, astronauts from the Skylab IV mission refused to complete their duties to the mission. They were consumed by the need to have time to reflect on their detached perspective of the Earth.
I personally find it very fascinating to learn that instead of feeling disconnected from the Earth from this perspective, astronauts feel a strong sense of connectedness and oneness with humanity. Frank White described that in his interviews with Apollo astronauts, they experienced this effect more strongly as they moved towards the moon. Looking at the whole Earth from the perspective of the moon enabled the Apollo astronauts to relate the Earth as being part of a larger system within the universe. This elicited a transcendence in consciousness; understanding that all of humanity is interconnected with the Earth and the universe. An experience that truly cannot be replicated in an image or through words.
There were several shared details that all the astronauts Frank White interviewed noted from their overview effect experience:
Seeing the Earth against the backdrop of space prompted a feeling of interconnectedness. This was the first thing that promoted the famous awe factor that is associated with the overview effect.
Seeing how thin the Earth’s atmosphere is from space created an understanding of the true fragility of the existence of life on this planet.
Seeing land masses on Earth without country borders promoted the feeling of international collaboration. Observing the Earth for what it truly is without separation by country allowed astronauts to gain a united perspective of all of humanity. The overview effect produces a true understanding that we are all part of the same species and that we need to set aside our differences to work together to help sustain our planet.
Earth appears ever-changing from an orbital perspective. Clouds, weather, and other features are constantly changing how land masses and objects on the surface appear to the astronauts. This creates a perspective of the Earth as a living and breathing organism with all life on Earth as a part of it.
Overall, astronauts experiencing the overview effect not only felt an intense burst of emotion and awe upon gazing at the Earth, but they experienced a shift in awareness. This shift in awareness that occurs with the overview effect has been compared to an intense meditative state which can produce a similar self-transcendence.
Although all the astronauts recount extremely similar experiences with the overview effect, they all process their experience very differently back on Earth. Some astronauts took to a religious expression of their self-transformation, some started humanitarian work, and still some expressed their experience through art and creativity. Personal beliefs and culture played a huge role in how the astronauts individually processed and expressed their experiences with the overview effect. I like this because it demonstrates that although we are all part of one system in unity, we are also each of us unique. Individual personalities and experiences shape how we process the universe around us, which I believe is a true gift of humanity.
Seeing how profound the overview effect is on astronauts, it is hard to believe that people didn’t think it would be a huge shock factor to see the Earth from space for the first time. That is why the overview effect was not even a thought when the first Apollo missions were being planned. An Apollo 8 astronaut recounted:
"When we originally went to the moon, our total focus was on the moon. We weren't thinking about looking back at the Earth. But now that we've done it, that may well have been the most important reason we went." - Apollo 8 Astronaut
We now know the importance of the overview effect and its ability to create a self-transcendent experience for an astronaut. Today, people still talk about the emotion that was delivered when the Earthrise picture of 1968 was shared to the public by NASA for the first time. When we look at the Earthrise picture we are only getting a fraction of the overview effect experienced by astronauts. We see the Earth as a marble from the perspective of the moon and realize something profound: we are all connected on the Earth.
The famous Earthrise picture taken by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders. Image credit: NASA
Beyond understanding our connection to the Earth as a whole, the overview effect (and similar self-transformative events) have been shown to improve team collaboration (even in high-intensity and stressful environments like spaceflight). As a result, the overview effect has been considered as a factor to help improve astronaut mental health in long-duration space missions.
I believe that it is very important to talk about the overview effect especially as humanity ventures into deep space (mars and beyond). In this NASA podcast (Image Credit: NASA), Frank White shared details about the overview effect and discussed what it could mean for the future of space exploration. For example, picture a trip to mars, where the Earth will appear as merely a point of light to astronauts. How will they be affected when they can no longer see the details of their home? Right now, we are really focused on getting humans back to the moon and eventually to mars- and someday even further. However, we’re forgetting that the Earth should be our top priority. One of the most important outcomes of space exploration has been humanity’s ability to shift our perspective about the Earth and about our interconnectedness with it. As an era of space tourism fast approaches, hopefully more people will get to experience the overview effect and be moved to make a difference on Earth.
I think we have a really great opportunity here to utilize the overview effect for positive change on Earth. The first groups of citizens to experience space tourism will be the wealthy, who have the opportunity to make a positive difference. It will be fascinating to see how the overview effect plays a role in future investments and changes to environmental advocacy on Earth.
Jeffrey Bezos, CEO of Amazon, launched into space just days ago on his Blue Origin rocket. He noted experiencing many of the same details that astronauts pointed out in the overview effect. In particular, Bezos pointed out the thinness of the Earth's atmosphere:
“It’s really this small thing supporting all life. So we need to take all polluting industry, all heavy industries and move it off Earth. This could take many decades, but that’s what we can do." - Jeff Bezos
Whether this experience will motivate Bezos to promote sustainable change on Earth remains to be seen. I am hopeful that the overview effect will help to start a ripple of change towards sustainability in the future. As more people in Bezos' position launch into space aboard space tourism vehicles, more people will understand the need to care for our fragile Earth properly from the lens of one united species.
References
NASA. (2019). Houston We Have A Podcast: Episode 107 The Overview Effect. https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/HWHAP/the-overview-effect.
Yaden, D. B., Iwry, J., Slack, K. J., Eichstaedt, J. C., Zhao, Y., Vaillant, G. E., & Newberg, A. B. (2016). The overview effect: Awe and self-transcendent experience in space flight. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 3(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000086