To celebrate Earth Day, this week’s edition of the Earth from Space programme features a spectacular image of Earth captured by Meteosat Second Generation.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
In summer 2018, ESA joined with the musician Vangelis and the family of scientist Prof. Stephen Hawking to beam a message marking his passing to the nearest black hole. On 22 April 2020, Earth Day, we’re transmitting this poignant message to all of planet Earth – as a message of hope, to say that, by working together, we can overcome this crisis and others facing humankind.
The message reads:
“I am very aware of the preciousness of time. Seize the moment. Act now.
“I have spent my life travelling across the Universe inside my mind. Through theoretical physics I have sought to answer some of the great questions but there are other challenges, other big questions which must be answered, and these will also need a new generation who are interested, engaged and with an understanding of science.
“How will we feed an ever-growing population, provide clean water, generate renewable energy, prevent and cure disease and slow down global climate change?
“I hope that science and technology will provide the answers to these questions, but it will take people, human beings with knowledge and understanding to implement the solution.
“One of the great revelations of the space age has been a perspective that has given humanity on ourselves. When we see the Earth from space we see ourselves as a whole; we see the unity and not the divisions. It is such a simple image, with a compelling message: one planet, one human race.
“We are here together, and we need to live together with tolerance and respect. We must become global citizens.
“I have been enormously privileged through my work to be able to contribute to our understanding of the Universe. But it would be an empty Universe indeed, if it were not for the people I love and who love me.
“We are all time travellers journeying together into the future. But let us work together to make that future a place we want to visit. Be brave, be determined, overcome the odds. It can be done.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
Earth from Space is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web TV virtual studios. In this edition, Sentinel-2A satellite takes us over Japan’s capital, the world’s largest megacity.
Earth is the largest rocky planet in our Solar System, and the only body we know of capable of supporting life. With so much news about exoplanets dominating the headlines, in this episode of Space we take a step back to take a look at Earth as a planet.
Four and a half billion years old and 149.6 million kilometres from the Sun, it’s not like anything else in the Solar System: “Planet Earth is quite a particular planet,” says Josef Aschbacher, Director of Earth Observation at ESA. “We have 70% of water, we have land masses which are actually moving over time. We have an atmosphere which is rich in oxygen, nitrogen, in water vapour. All of these are necessities in order to have life on a planet like this.”
Rome is a perfect spot to look at the defining characteristics of planet Earth, in particular the presence of liquid water. Our home planet has the right temperature and correct atmospheric pressure for water to flow on its surface, making it so hospitable to life.
