flying in space brought me back to earth
it brought me home there’s a lot of
really complex things that go into
launching to space living and working in
space and then coming back to earth but
I will tell you that I came back to
earth with three very simple though
life-changing lessons that I’d like to
share with you today and there on the
screen and you’re probably thinking wow
those are really simple we all learn
those in kindergarten don’t we we live
on a planet we’re all earthlings and the
only border that matters is the thin
blue line of atmosphere that blankets us
all and as we reflect today on the idea
of home I hope you’ll keep those three
simple lessons in mind this is the one
picture just in one picture that reminds
me of what it was like to live and work
in space
it’s really beautiful I hope you agree
it’s really beautiful it has this kind
of I don’t know almost peaceful quiet
still look to it but I know that that’s
silhouetted vehicle there that that’s
space shuttle Atlantis we’re traveling
at 17,500 miles an hour or five miles a
second which means we’re going around
the earth 16 times a day every 90
minutes and every 45 minutes or so
we get one of these really stunning
sunrises or sunsets out the window I
also know that I am on that spaceship
with my six crewmates we’re on our way
home to our families and my friend Jeff
Williams is still on the space station
and he very kindly took this picture for
us and the thing it also reminds me of
is this this is a place where I probably
the most separated I will ever be in my
life from this planet and yet I felt
more connected there to everything and
everyone down here than I ever had when
I was right down here and
love it this was my home in space for
over a hundred days this masterpiece the
International Space Station or the ISS I
could talk all day about this one
picture it literally is a masterpiece
technically politically the most
challenging thing as human beings we’ve
ever done and we did it in space you
can’t find any better example of living
off the grid than this space station a
wonderful state-of-the-art science
laboratory and research going on up
there and everything about it everything
we’re doing there our motto is off the
earth for the earth everything we’re
doing there is about improving life on
Earth and that’s a pretty amazing thing
we purposely build we purposely build
this mechanical system in space to mimic
what earth does for us naturally down
here it’s like a life-support system in
space and somehow we’ve done it in a way
that people from 15 different countries
make up the crew of six that’s onboard
that station it’s been circling us for
the last 20 years as long as my 16 year
old son has been alive this space
station has been up there with these
crews living peacefully and successfully
together and tens of thousands of people
down here on earth doing that same thing
peacefully successfully this mission of
greater good we build that life support
system in space because living and
working in space is all about the people
and we need to take this model these
international relationships that we’ve
developed so well
this model of peacefully and
successfully healthfully living in an
environment like space and the space
station and we need to bring that back
to earth
we need to it’s a matter of scale I
believe we need to listen to the words
of I think the very wonderful
Buckminster Fuller who said we all need
to be crew members on spaceship earth
not passengers before that I didn’t
think much about those three lessons you
know
the planet earthling thin blue line
thing I did it never really crossed my
mind
when I got to space I wanted to see what
was familiar to me out the window I
wanted to see Florida I considered
Florida to be my home so if I knew
Florida was out the window I wanted to
see it but very quickly every time I
looked out the window there was a
surprise this glowing iridescent you
know stunning planet below me something
surprised me and very quickly
Florida just became this special place
on earth and earth became my home and I
started thinking about my home as a
planet I started recognizing that
everything below me the
interconnectivity of it all everything
and everyone down there are connected
and I started totally respecting that
thin blue line and what it does for us
and it’s interesting I’ve started
thinking even more about the
relationship that we have to our home
doesn’t matter where we go whether
you’re looking out the window of a space
station or you’re on a mountain
somewhere or you’re in the next
neighborhood over you’re always looking
for that connection to your home even in
this picture this is a picture from
Cassini spacecraft you know a robotic
mission out to Saturn and we learn all
these wonderful things about Saturn but
what are we always looking for we’re
always looking for that tiny little dot
of light that’s us in the picture
doesn’t matter where we go in space
we’re looking for us and a connection a
connection home and you can launch fancy
red Tesla Sportsters to space with
Starman very heavy metal to space and
that’s really really cool but again we
find the awe in that blue marble behind
it we find the aw and recognizing
ourselves and our connection to it so
just really quickly I’ll tell you
anybody that flies in space actually I
think anybody who is excited about what
they’re doing what they’ve done what
they’ve experienced you want to share it
you want to share it in a meaningful way
for me I had the opportunity to paint
color in space and as I was retiring
from NASA and thinking about what I
wanted to do in my future to share that
spaceflight experience it always came
back to that art and so I’m working on
some projects and programs with kids
around the world space themed art and
healing programs but because they’re
gonna have to invite me back to talk to
you about that sometime but check out
the space for art foundation if you have
a chance and I will wrap up with this
picture this picture to me really brings
us home this is the 50th anniversary
this year in December is the 50th
anniversary of Apollo 8 and Apollo 8 was
the mission where the crew for the first
time with human eyes saw the earth this
way saw the reality check I think of who
and where we all are saw the reality of
our home in space
and I asked you I asked you to leave
here today with those three simple
lessons in mind so like me every day
think about the fact that we live on a
planet in space we’re all earthlings and
the only border that matters is that
thin blue line that blankets us all and
I think with that we can all have our
Earthrise moment and we can all together
work forward to a future that is Earthrise thank you
it brought me home there’s a lot of
really complex things that go into
launching to space living and working in
space and then coming back to earth but
I will tell you that I came back to
earth with three very simple though
life-changing lessons that I’d like to
share with you today and there on the
screen and you’re probably thinking wow
those are really simple we all learn
those in kindergarten don’t we we live
on a planet we’re all earthlings and the
only border that matters is the thin
blue line of atmosphere that blankets us
all and as we reflect today on the idea
of home I hope you’ll keep those three
simple lessons in mind this is the one
picture just in one picture that reminds
me of what it was like to live and work
in space
it’s really beautiful I hope you agree
it’s really beautiful it has this kind
of I don’t know almost peaceful quiet
still look to it but I know that that’s
silhouetted vehicle there that that’s
space shuttle Atlantis we’re traveling
at 17,500 miles an hour or five miles a
second which means we’re going around
the earth 16 times a day every 90
minutes and every 45 minutes or so
we get one of these really stunning
sunrises or sunsets out the window I
also know that I am on that spaceship
with my six crewmates we’re on our way
home to our families and my friend Jeff
Williams is still on the space station
and he very kindly took this picture for
us and the thing it also reminds me of
is this this is a place where I probably
the most separated I will ever be in my
life from this planet and yet I felt
more connected there to everything and
everyone down here than I ever had when
I was right down here and
love it this was my home in space for
over a hundred days this masterpiece the
International Space Station or the ISS I
could talk all day about this one
picture it literally is a masterpiece
technically politically the most
challenging thing as human beings we’ve
ever done and we did it in space you
can’t find any better example of living
off the grid than this space station a
wonderful state-of-the-art science
laboratory and research going on up
there and everything about it everything
we’re doing there our motto is off the
earth for the earth everything we’re
doing there is about improving life on
Earth and that’s a pretty amazing thing
we purposely build we purposely build
this mechanical system in space to mimic
what earth does for us naturally down
here it’s like a life-support system in
space and somehow we’ve done it in a way
that people from 15 different countries
make up the crew of six that’s onboard
that station it’s been circling us for
the last 20 years as long as my 16 year
old son has been alive this space
station has been up there with these
crews living peacefully and successfully
together and tens of thousands of people
down here on earth doing that same thing
peacefully successfully this mission of
greater good we build that life support
system in space because living and
working in space is all about the people
and we need to take this model these
international relationships that we’ve
developed so well
this model of peacefully and
successfully healthfully living in an
environment like space and the space
station and we need to bring that back
to earth
we need to it’s a matter of scale I
believe we need to listen to the words
of I think the very wonderful
Buckminster Fuller who said we all need
to be crew members on spaceship earth
not passengers before that I didn’t
think much about those three lessons you
know
the planet earthling thin blue line
thing I did it never really crossed my
mind
when I got to space I wanted to see what
was familiar to me out the window I
wanted to see Florida I considered
Florida to be my home so if I knew
Florida was out the window I wanted to
see it but very quickly every time I
looked out the window there was a
surprise this glowing iridescent you
know stunning planet below me something
surprised me and very quickly
Florida just became this special place
on earth and earth became my home and I
started thinking about my home as a
planet I started recognizing that
everything below me the
interconnectivity of it all everything
and everyone down there are connected
and I started totally respecting that
thin blue line and what it does for us
and it’s interesting I’ve started
thinking even more about the
relationship that we have to our home
doesn’t matter where we go whether
you’re looking out the window of a space
station or you’re on a mountain
somewhere or you’re in the next
neighborhood over you’re always looking
for that connection to your home even in
this picture this is a picture from
Cassini spacecraft you know a robotic
mission out to Saturn and we learn all
these wonderful things about Saturn but
what are we always looking for we’re
always looking for that tiny little dot
of light that’s us in the picture
doesn’t matter where we go in space
we’re looking for us and a connection a
connection home and you can launch fancy
red Tesla Sportsters to space with
Starman very heavy metal to space and
that’s really really cool but again we
find the awe in that blue marble behind
it we find the aw and recognizing
ourselves and our connection to it so
just really quickly I’ll tell you
anybody that flies in space actually I
think anybody who is excited about what
they’re doing what they’ve done what
they’ve experienced you want to share it
you want to share it in a meaningful way
for me I had the opportunity to paint
color in space and as I was retiring
from NASA and thinking about what I
wanted to do in my future to share that
spaceflight experience it always came
back to that art and so I’m working on
some projects and programs with kids
around the world space themed art and
healing programs but because they’re
gonna have to invite me back to talk to
you about that sometime but check out
the space for art foundation if you have
a chance and I will wrap up with this
picture this picture to me really brings
us home this is the 50th anniversary
this year in December is the 50th
anniversary of Apollo 8 and Apollo 8 was
the mission where the crew for the first
time with human eyes saw the earth this
way saw the reality check I think of who
and where we all are saw the reality of
our home in space
and I asked you I asked you to leave
here today with those three simple
lessons in mind so like me every day
think about the fact that we live on a
planet in space we’re all earthlings and
the only border that matters is that
thin blue line that blankets us all and
I think with that we can all have our
Earthrise moment and we can all together
work forward to a future that is Earthrise thank you
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