The Overview Effect

As I write this, the crew of the Artemis II mission — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen — aboard the Orion spacecraft Integrity, are executing their historic flyby of the Moon. They are the first humans to visit the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972, and they have traveled farther from Earth than any humans in history.

Yet the mission feels muted, as we Earth-bound humans deal with a constant barrage of bad news. War, a sinking economy, fascism, lies, families being ripped apart by masked goons, the lingering Epstein files, and more overshadow this monumental triumph of human science and ingenuity.

Many astronauts have reported coming under the spell of the Overview Effect. Seeing our fragile planet alone in the unending void of space has a profound effect on people. Borders, bigotry, war, capitalism and other issues suddenly seem insignificant while viewing Earth in an ocean of nothingness.

For this cartoon I wanted to find an inspirational quote from an astronaut about seeing Earth from space. While there were plenty to choose from, the quote from Apollo 14 lunar module pilot Edgar Mitchell seemed most appropriate for our times. Too many sons of bitches, from the most powerful sitting on their golden toilets to everyday bigots just looking for people to hate, need a forceful reminder of just how precious and fragile our planet is.

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