What changes when Earth is no longer the whole view? Most astronauts in low Earth orbit see the entire globe as a dominant element. The continents and coastlines, perhaps even some familiar locales, might jump out of the windows with a level of intimacy. However, Artemis 2 astronaut Christina Koch explained something completely different once she traveled farther than any space mission before it, leaving behind an isolated world suspended against a large backdrop of darkness.
Speaking to astronauts aboard the International Space Station, Koch remarked that her views of Earth had become different thanks to the distance separating the two worlds. “The thing that changed for me looking back at Earth was that I found myself noticing not only the beauty, but how much blackness there was around it, and how it just made it even more special,” she said. The astronaut’s remark aligns quite well with the overview effect a psychological change experienced by many space travelers after seeing Earth from beyond its atmosphere.
Artemis 2 presents this phenomenon in an extremely rare environment compared to the International Space Station astronauts’ routine views. While space crews orbit Earth at a distance of several hundreds of miles, the four person Artemis 2 team was launched on a ten day mission on the Orion spacecraft designed to test the spacecraft itself and its systems in deep space conditions. For example, NASA has called this mission the first crewed trip beyond Earth orbit since Apollo 17, which is important because distance changes the technological requirements and experience.
That is one reason why the mission cannot be considered a mere symbol of a new age in space. Astronauts preparing for this flight were trained to function independently, knowing the spacecraft inside and out, because Orion cannot be resupplied in the middle of the flight and cannot return to Earth quickly if necessary. NASA prepared astronauts for such an experience in the simulation of delayed communication, manual spacecraft control, observation of the Moon, and splashdown, because crews operating in deep space should have much better understanding of their spacecraft compared to astronauts in low Earth orbit.
Koch’s remarks echoed similar ideas about the thinness of Earth’s protective layer, which she shared earlier in her description of the station’s views. According to NASA, the astronaut has seen the thin blue layer of Earth’s atmosphere and understood that every human being relies on it. From deep space near the moon, this concept seemed to be more clear rather than blurred. It was no longer geography, but contrast between life and the vast blackness around the planet. However, Victor Glover offered the shortest summary of this trip’s mood while answering the question of surprise: “everything.”
The mission’s technological aspect is inseparable from its psychological component. This trip is testing Orion itself and the European Service Module used for spacecraft propulsion, power, and life support in deep space. Furthermore, this mission is the rehearsal of further flights, which will ask for even more from astronauts and spacecrafts as Artemis prepares for a permanent presence on the moon. That is why Artemis 2’s most impressive image could turn out to be the one of Earth itself.