Equator, Climate, Weather – Plans & Action

Solar filament. (Photo from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Solar Dynamics Observatory)

Two separate studies by the journal Science report that global climate change and specifically warmer water in the world's ocean ecology is pushing ocean life and habitats away from the equator and toward the poles; fish are migrating and coral is being displaced by a warmer climate.

Coral near Australia (Queensland Museum)

A study from the University of Washington, Seattle studied affects in the Atlantic Ocean on the metabolism of several species of fish and crab. Researchers in Queensland, Australia are showing that corals may be forced to shift toward the poles as a result of global warming, but their ability to do so may be limited by a variety of factors.

Like a changing climate, changing weather can alter reality and plans. The sun-powered, no-fuel Solar Impulse 2 airplane, making a journey around the world had to make an unanticipated stop in Nagoya, Japan on its way from Nanjing, China across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii.

Solar Impulse 2 flies, powered by the sun and PV panels across its wingspan. (SI2)

Wind caused some damage to the plane's wing in Japan, causing a delay in plans to fly to Hawaii, according to Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg.

The flight originated in Abu Dhabi, and the plane has made stops in Oman, India, Myanmar, China and now Japan. The longest-leg flight across the Pacific to Hawaii – "following the equator" – is considered the most hazardous.

LDSD (NASA)

Meanwhile, in Kauai, Hawaii, changes in weather are hampering another mission in the sky. Weather has caused delays this week in NASA's "Flying Saucer" test – the launch of the "Mars Lander" Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) aboard a high-altitude balloon. The overall window is through June 12, with another attempt Monday, June 8. The Navy is supporting the mission from Pacific Missile Range Facility and Navy Region Hawaii (see photo below).

According to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and California Institute of Technology site, "This week offers up another opportunity to witness an important milestone in experimental flight tests. NASA's LDSD project will beam back to Earth live imagery from a supersonic, edge-of-atmosphere test of braking technology for Mars."

Learn more here...

And here: Check out this great NASA blog by Laura Faye Tenenbaum, "Earth Right Now – Your planet is changing. We're on it."

Back across the Pacific, straddling the equator, lies the island nation of Kiribati. The Joint High Speed Vessel USNS Millinocket (JHSV 3) is visiting the Independent Republic of Kiribati as the first mission visit of Pacific Partnership 2015. At the same time, south of the equator, USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) is in another island country, the Republic of Fiji, where healthcare providers are helping people and Seabees are building schools. Pacific Partnership is the world's largest multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission, providing training, outreach and civil infrastructure assistance in Indo-Asia-Pacific. It is a summer-long mission led by Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

150527-N-DT805-011 KAUAI, Hawaii (May. 27, 2015) Sailors assigned to Mobile Diving Salvage Unit (MDSU) 1 Explosive Ordnance Detachment conduct a safety walk-through in preparation for recovering the test vehicle for NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) off the coast of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. NASA's LDSD project is designed to investigate and test breakthrough technologies for landing future robotic and human Mars missions, and safely returning large payloads to Earth. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist John M. Hageman/Released)

150604-N-HY254-204 TARAWA, Kiribati (June 4, 2015) Musician 3rd Class Brian Mathis, assigned to the U.S. Pacific Fleet Band, plays tambourine with children at a concert in Bairiki Square during a Pacific Partnership 2015 visit to the Independent Republic of Kiribati. Now in its 10th iteration, Pacific Partnership is the largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Asia-Pacific Region. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Jonathan R. Kulp/Released)

How Navy & Marines Reached the Moon 50 Years Ago

Glenn and Armstrong, survival training in Panama, 1963. NASA

Review by Bill Doughty

July 20, 1969: A Sailor (Neil Armstrong) became the first human to step on the moon. 

Earlier in the decade, another Sailor (Alan Shepard) was the first American to travel in space, and a Marine (John Glenn) was the first American to orbit Earth.

A United States president and vice president (both Navy veterans) along with a NASA administrator (a former Marine) provided key leadership so Americans could plant the American flag in the Sea of Tranquility fifty years ago this month.

That flag – once red, white and blue – is now bleached white by UV radiation, according to Douglas Brinkley in "American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race" (HarperCollins, 2019).

From War/Destruction to Peace/Discovery

Writing with a journalist/historian's touch, Brinkley shows how the influence of World War II – and the resultant Cold War – brought about the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. It was a race that the Soviets proved to dominate – hare to tortoise – in the early 1960s.

"Space was America's Cold War Manifest Destiny," Brinkley writes, "and the Mercury astronauts wore its rough-and-ready trailblazers, following in the footsteps of Kennedy's own World War II Generation and almost two centuries of American adventurers before."

America's moonshot would not have happened in 1969 without JFK's drive.

John F. Kennedy, who had some health issues even as a young man, was at first rejected from service, but he used his father's influence to help him get into the Navy. 

"When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 – 'a date that will live in infamy,' as President Roosevelt termed it – Jack and Joe Kennedy were already in uniform and ready for combat duty. They would never have to scrub off the taint of using their father's influence to avoid military service. Four days after Pearl Harbor, Nazi Germany and the Axis partners declared war on the United States. 'Industrial Mobilization' became an urgent catchphrase across the nation. Military bases were built on empty land. Factories were adapted to switch from manufacturing consumer goods to producing war matériel. Between 1940 and 1943, enlistment in the U.S. 
Armed Forces expanded from fewer than five hundred thousand to more than nine million. Mobilization efforts swelled in every direction, from far-flung Honolulu to the shipyards of Norfolk."

A young JFK.

JFK showed his profile in courage in the War in the Pacific, and was profoundly affected when his big brother, Joseph Jr., was killed on a combat mission. Joe's plane exploded in mid-air in what proved to be an unsuccessful bombing mission against a Nazi missile base.

Brinkley posits that Hitler's missile program laid the foundation for NASA's success, particularly with the help of former Nazi scientist Wernher von Braun. Kennedy was motivated and propelled by a combination of influences, including his father's drive, his brother's death, and a vision of the future for America and the world.

JFK, followed by LBJ and assisted by NASA administrator James Webb, a Marine major in WWII, presented the vision, the mission and the will to reach the Moon, despite other challenges and sea changes in the 60s – including the Cuban Missile Crisis, civil rights movement and Vietnam.

JFK's visionary leadership, combined with the hard work and creative innovation of an elite civilian-military team, the United States discovered a world of innovation in space, including communication, mapping and global positioning satellites; commercial air transport; and the microchip.

Navy veterans/leaders kept space closed to militarization and turned away from nuclear atmospheric testing and proposals to put nuclear weapons in space.

In Kennedy's challenge to go to the Moon, he said – with speechwriter Ted Sorensen's help in balancing optimism with humility – "we meet in an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and unforgettable ignorance. The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds."

Naval Propulsion Into Space

While the sea services were joined by the Army and Air Force and led by civilians in developing the space program, Brinkley reveals various naval ties – Navy and Marine Corps connections – to putting Americans into space:

CNO Adm. Arleigh Burke joins JFK and LBJ to observe the successful mission by Alan Shepard.

• Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal mentored Navy veteran-turned-politician JFK on "post-war national security imperatives," preparing him for his next roles in public service.
• On May 5, 1961 Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke was with JFK and LBJ to observe news coverage Alan Shepard's successful flight into space.
• NASA Administrator James Webb was a major in the Marine Corps in WWII, tasked with running the U.S. radar system for the planned invasion of Japan, ultimately unnecessary after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Imperial Japan's surrender.
• The Naval Research Laboratory announced Sputnik's successful orbit of the Earth on Oct. 4, 1957.
• The Navy led development of the Vanguard satellite, which experienced fits and starts (though former Nazi Wernher von Braun, supported by Senator Barry Goldwater, favored the Army's satellite hardware and development – as well as militarization of space).
• Among the hundreds of U.S. Navy ships involved in the recovery of astronauts and development of the space program were USS Lake Champlain (CV-39), USS Decatur (DD-936), USS Intrepid (CV-11), USS Kearsarge (LHA-3), USS Noa (DD-841) and USS Randolph (CV-15). Navy helos, divers, tracking and personnel were also critical to the success of the program. (Check out the extensive list of recovery ships on NASA's history site.)
• Lt. Cmdr. Victor Prather, a Navy flight surgeon, lost his life testing the full-pressure Mark IV space suit. Other military veterans as well as civilians paid the ultimate price over the years as the space program developed.
• Shepard was a  Navy test pilot and "military aviation superstar" who had served aboard USS Cogswell (DD-651) during WWII and as a squadron operations officer aboard USS Orinsky (CV-34) during the Korean War. He was a leader among astronauts and became the oldest man to walk on the moon, at the age of 47.
• Naval aviator Neil Armstrong "had become one of the most respected jet pilots of the Korean War generation, part of an 'ace club' that also included John Glenn and Wally Schirra."
• Marine John Glenn distinguished himself in World War II and the Korean War. He became a close friend of both President Kennedy and younger brother Robert F. Kennedy. Glenn represented all astronauts at JFK's funeral. After leaving NASA he entered further public service, running for the United States Senate. Jacqueline Kennedy called on Glenn and asked him to comfort her children Caroline and John Jr.  after JFK was killed. Glenn would do the same for RFK's children in 1968 after Bobby Kennedy was murdered.
• Astronaut Scott Carpenter, a Navy test pilot who followed John Glenn into space, had served in the Korean War, flying "numerous reconnaissance and antisubmarine missions along both the Siberian and Chinese coasts."
• Astronaut Wally Schirra served aboard Navy cruiser USS Alaska (CB-1) during WWII. After the war he married the stepdaughter of Adm. James L. Holloway, Jr. (father of a future CNO).
• A big supporter of the Navy in Congress – U.S. Senator John C. Stennis (D-Mississippi) is quoted: "Whoever controls space controls the world." is the namesake for the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74).
• SECNAV Fred North, along with LBJ and SECDEF Robert McNamara, accompanied President Kennedy for a visit to Houston, Sept. 11-12, 1962.
• Although patriarchy and prejudice prevented qualified women (along with non-Christians and non-whites) from becoming astronauts in the early 60s, the Naval School of Aviation Medicine began testing women – seasoned pilots. Dr. William "Randy" Lovelace II, an aeromedical pioneer, "believed that women were better equipped psychologically for NASA space travel because they were, on average, shorter and smaller than men, needed less food and oxygen, and had better blood circulation and fewer cardiac problems." Unfortunately, when NASA and Congress learned about the initiative, the program was shut down, postponing and delaying fulfillment of the promise of equality.

President Kennedy visits Cape Canaveral Nov. 16, 1963.

Cape Kennedy, Vindications, Revelations

Shortly before JFK was killed in Dallas, Texas, he visited Cape Canaveral, Florida, Nov. 16, 1963. "The president's visit to Cape Canaveral had reinforced his faith in exactly what a gargantuan, well-funded, centralized government project could achieve in breakneck time."

Navy, led by USS Wasp (CV-18), recovers Gemini 9 capsule.

Within a week of Kennedy's assassination, LBJ proclaimed a new name for Cape Canaveral: Cape Kennedy.

Interestingly, Brinkley shows how Kennedy was wrong about his claim of a big missile gap with the Soviets, something he proclaimed in what would today be called "fake news." Kennedy made that claim in pointed attacks against President Eisenhower in the late 1950s.

In some ways Ike was vindicated by what Kennedy learned when he came into office (and what was then reported in the New York Times). Eisenhower had quietly kept pace in space in the 50s, deploying reconnaissance and missile-detection satellites.

"All JFK's taunts at Ike had been overdrawn. The fact were that when Eisenhower left the White House, the United States had one hundred sixty operational ICBMs to a paltry four R-7s in the Soviet arsenal. Kennedy now gladly accepted this reality. Later in 1961, Corona satellite intelligence indicated that Khrushchev, expectations aside, had only six ICBMs. Kennedy and Johnson's campaign swipes that Eisenhower and Nixon were the architects of a national security missile strategy of 'drift, delay, and dilution' had clearly been off base. Furthermore, America's three coastal launch sites (Cape Canaveral, Florida; Vandenberg Air Force Base, California; and Wallops Island, Virginia) were already operating around the clock to further spaceflight advancement. Each of these sites had technical facilities, a control center, and the most modern of launchpads. What Kennedy learned was that Eisenhower had actually done an able job of building up U.S. defenses. When Ike was inaugurated for his first term in 1953, the air force still used piston-driven bombers, and navy strategy focused on basing ships around the Pacific. By the time he handed the reins over to JFK, the United States had developed reconnaissance and communication satellite capabilities. And there were nuclear submarines – including the USS George Washington (SSBN-598) – deployed the very month Kennedy was elected and able to carry sixteen nuclear Polaris missiles. Five generations of rockets – starting with the early Vanguard, and then onward with ICBMs like Atlas and Titan – were born in the Eisenhower years. The army had teams designing heavy-launch Saturn rockets, while the air force, not to be outdone, had made headwind with its Space Launching System (SLS), experimenting with a myriad of launch configurations using solid-fuel boosters and hydrogen/oxygen upper states. The Strategic Air Command had more than fifteen hundred jet bombers capable of dropping hydrogen bombs on America's enemies."

Still, JFK was passionate about winning the Space Race for "global prestige" as he fought for peaceful exploration rather than exploitation – for discovery instead of dominance. Already in the 60s there were overtures of joint collaborative missions with the Soviets. But, "For Kennedy, much depended on the United States going to the moon, beating the Soviet Union, being first, winning the Cold War in the name of democracy and freedom, and planting the American Flag on the lunar surface."


Today, as we learned, that flag from 1969 is bleached white. But, rather than being a flag of surrender to the new frontier, perhaps it's a blank slate that could represent a renewable spirit of cooperation and collaboration, reflected in the words of a naval aviator: "one giant leap for mankind."

The American flag planted on the surface of the moon.

Bonus – The U.S. Navy recovers John Glenn:

Space for Navy Brothers

by Bill Doughty

U.S. Navy captain and astronaut Mark Kelly wrote this on his Facebook page last week. 

American Astronaut Scott Kelly set records in space in 2015 and 2016. 

"After 5,440 orbits around our planet, after the sun went up and down 10,944 times (the sun rises or sets every 45 minutes in space), after flying over 100 million miles, my brother Scott’s year in space is now over."

Kelly's twin brother Capt. Scott Kelly returned to Earth after 340 days and 400 investigations into how the body and mind adapt to being in space. Back on terra firma Mark served as a control for the experiments.

According to NASA, the studies will "advance NASA’s mission to reach new heights, reveal the unknown, and benefit all of humanity," to include an eventual journey to Mars.

Shortly after returning, Scott was optimistic about how humans could adapt to super-extended deployments in space.

"A year's a long time. I felt like I'd been up there my whole life after six months," Capt. Scott Kelly said. "I'm definitely encouraged on our ability to go even longer. Even though I looked forward to coming home, and there were things I missed, if it's for the right reason I clearly could have stayed for even longer ... however long it took."

Immediately after brother Scott's safe return Capt. Mark Kelly spoke on National Public Radio about the effects of radiation in space and theories of aging. Mark took part in his brother's journey, undergoing a twins study to evaluate and compare how the body changes.

Both brothers share a lifelong commitment to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, adventure and education.

Capt. Mark Kelly is reaching new generations of readers with his children's books, including "Mousetronaut," "Mousetronaut Goes to Mars" and his latest, with Martha Freeman, "Astrotwins: Project Blastoff."

"Astrotwins" (Simon & Schuster, 2016), published this month, is about middle schoolers getting ready to take off and is based on the childhoods of the Kelly brothers.

The Kellys were born on Orange, New Jersey on Feb. 21, 1964. They each officially retired from the Navy in recent years. While on active duty Scott served as a naval aviator with VFA-143 aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and Mark flew for VA-115 in Atsugi, Japan and aboard USS Midway (CV 41).

On his Facebook site Capt. Mark Kelly recently posted a New York Times photo of Marine Corps Col. John Glenn's return to earth after Glenn's historic first orbit of the earth in 1962, just two years before Mark and Scott were born. (The twins were just five years old when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon). Imagine.

Mark Kelly reminds young readers in the afterword for "Mousetronaut" (Simon & Schuster, 2012) that it's been just 113 years ago that the Wright Brothers "launched the first manned airplane, the Flyer, and challenged the birds for a place in the skies."

Scott Kelly's journey is the latest in continuous innovation and collaboration in space.

According to NASA, "The space station’s orbital path over 90 percent of the Earth’s population provides a unique vantage point for studying and taking images of our planet. The one-year crew also saw the arrival of a new instrument to study the signature of dark matter to understand our solar system and beyond. Technology demonstrations conducted during the mission, such as a test of network capabilities for operating swarms of spacecraft, continue to drive innovation."

NASA shows that success is achieved by more than just one man or even one nation, considering the International Space Station and ongoing international cooperation.

Savannah Guthrie interviews the Kellys on the Today Show in May 2015.

Kelly blasted off from and returned to Kazakhstan aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft. He shared his mission with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, with whom he trained at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

NASA reports:

"The strong U.S.-Russian collaboration during the one-year mission is the latest accomplishment in 15 years of continuous global teamwork that shows how nations with widely divergent languages, cultures and engineering philosophies can advance shared goals in science and space exploration. Strengthening international partnerships will be key in taking humans deeper into the solar system."

Exploration, Navigation, Commitment to Care

Master builder Wright Bowman Sr., born in 1907, created this scaled reproduction sculpture of Hōkūleʻa in 1978, on display at the Honolulu Museum of Art.

by Bill Doughty

U.S. astronaut Air Force Lt. Col. Charles Lacy Veach looked out the window of the space shuttle as it passed over Hawaii and had an epiphany about "island Earth."

"Lacy could see all the islands, and he could see his whole spirit and soul here. He could see the entire planet as one vision," said master navigator Dr. Nainoa Thompson, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.

Hōkūleʻa

Thompson credits Veach for inspiring Mālama Honua ("Care for the Earth"), the worldwide journey of a double-hull voyaging canoe, Hōkūleʻa, using traditional navigation techniques. The voyage is underway to raise awareness of our collective responsibility to protect and cherish our home planet.

"Hawaii is a laboratory for living well on islands, including Island Earth," according to Thompson, in an interview with PBS.

Kathy Muneno of Hawaii's KHON reports, "Thompson says it’s when Veach saw Hawaii from space that he knew it held the answer to a beautiful, sustainable and caring Earth. He says Veach actually planted the seed for Hōkūleʻa to sail around the world."

Muneno writes, "Veach and Nainoa Thompson became fast friends and hatched a plan for a three-way call: Veach in the space shuttle, Thompson on the ‘spaceship’ of ancestors, Hōkūleʻa in the South Pacific, both fielding questions from children in Hawaii and broadcasting to hundreds of classrooms."

Friends Nainoa Thompson and Lacy Veach.

They answered students' questions and put navigation by the stars – and with the stars – in context: "exploration."

Hōkūleʻa ("star of gladness," named for the star Arcturus, which passes over Hawaii) departs from Titusville, Florida today after a poignant visit to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, where Thompson and other voyagers paid tribute to Veach's legacy before continuing their voyage up the East Coast.

“The country needs to know that Lacy was the one that planted the idea as a seed into us in 1992 to take Hōkūleʻa around the world.” said Thompson, “Florida becomes foundational for us to articulate and communicate to this country that that’s why we’re coming – out of respect, and out of honoring and making sure that they know that Lacy’s legacy counts. I don’t think we can go up the coast until we establish that.”

Arriving in Titusville, Florida. Photo courtesy Hokulea.com and Oiwa TV, by Niehu Anthony.

Thompson held a ceremony aboard the canoe to honor the memory of Hawaii astronauts Ellison Onizuka and Lacy Veach and their contributions to exploration in space. He spoke with NASA employees and shared stories of how Veach inspired a generation of students and voyagers at sea and in space.

“Coming to NASA for me has been an amazing celebration,” Thompson told Hōkūleʻa and NASA crew, as reported on Hokulea.com. “Lacy is our navigator on this voyage, and for that, this is the most important two days for me.”

Thompson's tribute to Lacy and his vision of "the beauty of island Earth" is published by the Polynesian Voyaging Society. It's a beautiful tribute and shows Veach's commitment to teaching the next generation.

Like President Obama, Veach is a graduate of Punahou School in Honolulu. He was commissioned in the United States Air Force upon graduation from the Air Force Academy in 1966 and served as a USAF fighter pilot. According to his NASA bio, he flew "the F-100 Super Sabre, the F-111, and the F-105 Thunderchief, on assignments in the United States, Europe, and the Far East, including a 275-mission combat tour in the Republic of Vietnam."

Lacy Veach in space.

He was a member of the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, in 1976 and 1977. Veach left active duty in 1981, but served as a F-16 pilot with the Texas Air National Guard before becoming an astronaut in June 1985. 

From his bio: "He held a variety of technical assignments, and had flown as a mission specialist on two Space Shuttle missions, STS-39 in 1991 and STS-52 in 1992. He had logged 436.3 hours in space. Most recently, Lacy had worked as the lead astronaut for the development and operation of robotics for the International Space Station."

Veach is mentioned in the same breath as Pinky Thompson (Nainoa's father), Mao Piailug and Eddie Aikau, inspirational leaders who are part of a seafaring tradition. 

Eddie was an experienced waterman and crew member of Hōkūleʻa who was lost at sea in 1978 when he set out on his surfboard to get help after the canoe capsized. "Eddie would go" symbolizes determination, commitment and selflessness.

U.S. Navy Sailors in Hawaii have a history of working with the Polynesian Voyaging Society – volunteering to assist with fixing and painting facilities, sanding and refurbishing canoes, and advising voyagers.

Just prior to Hōkūleʻa's voyage, Rear Adm. Frank Ponds (then-Commander, Navy Region Hawaii and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific) spoke with Kathy Muneno and spoke about mitigating the dangers they could face transiting the Pacific, including pirates, storms and rogue waves.

Lt. D. Stayton holds a sextant in a class at USNA. (Photo by MU2 T. Caswell.)

Recently the Navy announced a renewed interest in teaching traditional navigation techniques at the Naval Academy (USNA), using constellations, the sun and moon as Hōkūleʻa does, without relying on global positioning satellites.

National Public Radio published a story about the initiative, noting "Navigation by the stars dates back millennia. The ancient Polynesians used stars and constellations to help guide their outrigger canoes across thousands of miles of the Pacific Ocean. And right up until the mid-20th century, navigation on the sea was usually done by looking at the heavens."

As for Hōkūleʻa, the voyaging canoe heads north up the East Coast now toward Washington D.C. and New York via South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. At the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, the voyagers plan to participate in the Earth Day celebration there April 23. 

In a post on Hokulea.com:

"After spending about a week in Washington DC, Hōkūleʻa will sail to New York City, where she will be a focal point at World Oceans Day events hosted by the United Nations on June 8, 2016. The theme of this year’s World Oceans Day is 'Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet.' While in New York City, Hōkūleʻa will also participate in the Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge, which is the East Coast’s largest Pacific Islands festival and one of the world’s most competitive outrigger races. Hōkūleʻa is expected to depart New York City on June 18 for several engagements in the New England area."

To follow the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage, visit http://hokulea.com/track-the-voyage

What Ron Garan Saw in Space

Review by Bill Doughty

Former Air Force pilot Col. Ron Garan was one of the astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery as former Navy aviator Capt. Mark Kelly maneuvered and docked the craft with the International Space Station (ISS) in the spring of 2008.

A few days later Garan stepped into the "vacuum of space" after listening to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir."

What Garan found and what it means for the rest of us is revealed in "The Orbital Perspective: Lessons in Seeing the Big Picture from a Journey of 71 Million Miles" (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2015)

"As I looked back at our Earth from the orbital perspective, I saw a world where natural and human-defined boundaries shrank. I saw a world becoming more and more interconnected and collaborative – a world where the exponential increase in technology is making the "impossible" possible on a daily basis. Thinking about the next fifty years, I imagined a world where people and organizations set aside their differences and their destructive competitive inclinations – such as striving to maximize economic growth at all cost, or pillaging society for the personal gain of a few – and instead work together toward common goals. After all, we are all riding through the universe together on this spaceship we call Earth. We are all interconnected, we are all in this together, and we are all family."

For most of history, people generally thought that stepping onto the moon was impossible. But Navy veteran President John F. Kennedy challenged Americans in September 1962 to "look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond."

Under Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon (both also former naval officers), JFK's challenge was achieved within seven years. As to who "won" the space race, Garan makes a case that the world won and is still winning.

The International Space Station. NASA.

Since the end of the Cold War, the United States and Russia have worked closely in space: Apollo/Soyuz, Mir/Freedom/Atlantis and now the International Space Station.

Fifteen nations collaborated to build and support the ISS, which is as big as a football field and surely one of the great human-built wonders of the world. ISS became a reality because of an agreement in June 1992 signed by President George H.W. Bush (another Navy veteran) and Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

How did cooperation overtake competition in space?

Both sides replaced attitudes of superiority, condescension and belligerence with humility, respect and understanding. Trust, openness and a willingness to learn led to "extended empathy" and "effective collaboration" – ideals Garan examines in this book.

"Collaboration begins with mutual understanding and respect ... One major problem in the early U.S.-Soviet/Russian collaboration was misunderstanding on both sides. Whether it was a language barrier, an unfamiliar way of doing things, or an underestimation of the other side's abilities, overcoming such misunderstandings required both sides to move outside their comfort zones and to really absorb another culture. There was a need on both sides to understand a style of communication that sometimes was very different, in addition to the language itself, and to respect others' limitations in these areas."

Photo by Col. Ron Garan, NASA.

Different, he says, does not mean inferior.

Does Garan's optimism sound naive? Not if you've seen the world from his "orbital perspective."

"To say the view was breathtaking would be an understatement. The first thing that struck me was how thin the atmosphere appeared, as if the entire planet were wrapped in a paper-thin blanket. And in that moment, I was hit with the realization that this delicate layer of atmosphere is all that protects every living thing on Earth from perishing in the harshness of space. So, although this was an incredibly overwhelming visual experience, it also was much, much more than just a visual experience. For me, it was a profound feeling of detachment, with a simultaneous connectedness. I felt a visceral, physical separation from the only world I had known since birth, while at the same time i was able to see that world with my own eyes."

Years later, Garan's friend Wasfia Nazreen climbed Mount Everest as a part of a campaign to raise awareness of women's rights issues. Her perspective – an overriding feeling of gratitude – was one Garan shares: "immense gratitude" that leads to a sense of responsibility to act responsibly as part of a collaborative community: "a community of trust working together with a shared purpose – and a philosophy of contribution."

The goals are tangible and interrelated: clean water, renewable energy and elimination of poverty, which in turn reduces regional conflicts. The tools include innovation, communication, education and empowerment.

Garan, an avid photographer, caught a Perseid meteor shower from above. NASA.

Garan gives examples of how people can work together to achieve a common goal, including in crises. Orbital perspective can be achieved from above, on or beneath the Earth.

When 33 Chilean miners were trapped for 69 days in 2010, the world focused on a common goal: rescue. Campo Esperanza ("hope") was set up, and NASA and the international community responded. The Chilean navy – with help from NASA – designed the extraction device.

"In all cases, people rallied around the common cause. The overarching goal united people from around the world into a community with a shared purpose and motivated diverse groups to work together systematically and selflessly toward the rescue of the men. In short, the effort represented collaboration from an orbital perspective."

Garan's experience with ISS inspired him to start Impact CoLab to help "propel the good that others are doing."

Astronauts Scott Kelly, Ron Garan and Mark Kelly.

"The Orbital Perspective" follows in the path of works by Buckminster Fuller and Carl Sagan, both of whom are quoted by Garan. Can we see the "big picture," work together and find hope for the future of our planet? Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus (who received the prize with Malala Yousafzai) writes the preface of the book and challenges readers to use the perspective and commit to solving seemingly impossible problems.

At one time it seemed impossible to go to the moon or to prevent another World War. Today it may seem impossible to prevent the effects global climate change, deal with terrorism by radical extremists, or colonize Mars.

But as JFK said in September 1962 – speaking of space: "... we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding."

Bill Nye Wants Your Help

Review by Bill Doughty

Nye reflects on the "overview effect" in his mind-opening "Everything All at Once," (Rodale, 2017). He offers a cool perspective on how we can help heal the world. That perspective comes from space, from inside the human psyche and the down-to-earth reality of the greatest threat facing our planet.

Nye is another critical thinker who calls for a Green New Deal for current and future generations: infrastructure and support for renewable energy, clean water and internet connectivity. Last month he formally endorsed the idea at SXSW.

"Everything All at Once" is a good Earth Day read with some strong Navy ties and with a fascinating insight on how his father survived as a prisoner of war in WWII.

Bill Nye's mom, Lt. Jacquie Jenkins, served in WWII.

In remarks at the Reason Rally in Washington D.C. in the late spring of 2016 he reminds us what the Second World War generation achieved:

"To those who think we can't get renewable sources in place quickly enough, I give you this response ... Both my parents were in World War II; their ashes are interred across the river from here (the Lincoln Memorial) in the Arlington National Cemetery. My father survived nearly 4 years as a prisoner of war captured from Wake Island. My mother was recruited by the U.S. Navy to work deciphering the Nazi Enigma code. They were part of what came to be called the Greatest Generation, but they didn't set out to be great. They just played the hand they were dealt. In barely 5 years, their generation resolved a global conflict and started building a new, democratic, technologically advancing world. With and emphatic sense of purpose, they embraced progress."The current generation must employ critical thinking and our powers of reason just as they did. This time, the global challenge is climate change. We also must play the hand we have been dealt and get on with it. Together we can change the world."

Self-described nerd, Bill Nye, also offers pun-ishing humor throughout, balancing irony and serious reality. He writes with a light yet respectful touch, open to other voices, always seeking to understand.

Nye shows the power of strong parents instilling core values, including honesty, courage and commitment. He notes, "there are such things as inviolable truth and facts."

His father, Ned Nye, and his dad's fellow prisoners witnessed a sailor "beheaded with a sword in a weird reenactment of a 17th-century Edo ceremony, just to show the prisoners that their captors meant business." 

How did the prisoners deal with physical and mental abuse? He writes, "Every day these guys were subjected to beatings. Every day they were hungry. Every day they were exhausted. In summer, they worked in oppressive heat. In winter, they were chilled to the bone." The prisoners created a fake language they called "Tut" to communicate privately. 

The prisoners found pleasure in recognizing and highlighting the absurdity of their situation, including the actions of a swaggering martinet in their own ranks who tried to impress them by "peppering his sentences with the term 'disirregardless.'" Being able to self-reflect, shift perspective and find humor in any situation helped is dad survive as a POW. The nonword "disirregardless" became an "essential distraction" and part of Nye family lore that lives on to this day for Bill and his sister. When a pompous leader takes himself too seriously and loses humanity he can become the butt of a joke.

But Nye says the threats to our climate are no joking matter.

As far back as the nation's first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, Nye was motivated. "I was convinced that we were headed for trouble as a species," he writes, "unless we could start using our brains more rationally, and it shaped how I approach my own environmental impact and goals for the future."

Bill Nye (The Science Guy) talks about the LC-130 with its navigator, Air Force Maj. Amanda Coonradt, during a visit to Antarctica. (Photo by Katie Lange)

Nye reflects on the global commons, the fact that Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency, Carl Sagan's warning of a "nuclear winter," the human impact to the planet as shown in Kentucky and Greenland, and the fact that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere moved beyond 400 parts per million in 2016.

He calls for shared action to address the dangers of global climate change. "To save the planet for us humans, we have to pay attention to our shared interests rather than stumble into chaos as unconnected, self-interested individuals. We have to harness both knowledge and responsibility," he advises.

"Everybody knows something you don't," he says. It's a profound and humbling concept. And it's a call for cooperation.

Finding answers in a collective consciousness, he says, helps us design practical solutions to face fear and confront challenges, including climate change.

"Instead of running around in circles, waving our arms – or, worse, going about our business in willful ignorance – we could get to work know. We could erect wind turbines off the east coast of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. We could install photovoltaic panels practically everywhere the Sun shines. We could heat and cool a lot of our dwellings, offices, and factories using geothermal sources. We'd create jobs, boost the economy, clean the air, and address climate change. If you really want to make America great (and the rest of the world, too), these are the main things you, I mean we, need to do. It sounds like an enormous undertaking, and it is, but we've seen again and again, the enormous ones begin with small perceptual shifts."

The blueprint for coming together to create and sustain a better world for children and grandchildren occurred in Europe and Asia/Pacific in the last century:

"World War II showed the terrifying possibility of global self-destruction; its aftermath inspired new institutions to promote constructive collaboration on a world-wide scale. Some of it appeared in the form of international treaties. Some of it appeared as networks of related science, technology, and environmental-research programs. The United Nations, despite its limits and shortcomings, provides a forum for international discussion and decision-making. Doctors Without Borders engages physicians from all over to provide medical services to those in need. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and Conservation International work to stop poaching and conserve threatened species. The Conference of Parties in Paris in 2015, known as COP21, produced the most meaningful international agreement yet on reducing greenhouse gases."

Even if progress is not linear or the horizon seems too far, "The longest journey begins with but a single step," Nye says.

How big a nerd is he? Bill Nye gets tied in knots in his excitement about knot-tying, and gives an interesting twist on the joys of physics. He speaks of the joys of the square knot, the square bow, two half-hitches, bowline, clove hitch and sheepshank, among others.

Bill Nye talks with 14-year-ole Joey Hudy about his Extreme Marshmallow Cannon at
a science fair held at the White House on Feb. 7, 2012 (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

This book is a treasure-trove for critical thinkers and nerds, with discussion on the scientific method, Occam's razor, entropy, anti-vaxxers, high school physics, electric vehicles, James Cameron, GMOs, the National Archives, and confirmation bias – "the tendency to confirm our our assumptions as valid and true."

Nye relates a wonderful story about a flight attendant and an unruly passenger; it's another call for shifting perspective and showing respect for one another. He reflects on what it was like working at Boeing, tells how he helped his parents quit smoking (using exploding cigarettes), writes about his grandfather fighting (on horseback) in the World War I, and challenges us to rediscover missions in space, including a possible journey to Europa and continued journeys to Mars.

Curiosity journeyed to Mars. Another more advanced rover is planned in the months ahead. (NASA)

With respect and awe, Nye writes about how the scientists at NASA created previous Mars rovers, especially Curiosity. NASA teams are working to send an "even more advanced rover, currently called Mars 2020. Both rovers are about the size and mass of a Chevrolet Spark automobile. So how are they going to do it?"

"If you have the naive confidence of a budding engineer, you might think, 'It can't be all that hard. We just have to slow down enough to roll or skid to a stop. We land airplanes all over the place every day. We landed all sorts of things on the Moon.. Surely we've got the basics of that figured out by now.' In other words, you'd start with the problem you know ... But it turns out that this business of setting down intact on the surface of Mars is some kinda crazy complicated. On Earth you have a lot of air to work with, and even the fastest fighter jets are dealing with much, much lower speeds. When the probe carrying the Curiosity rover approached Mars, it was moving at more than six times as fast as an F-35, with the throttle at the firewall – going all out. That's a lot of energy to dissipate."

Tackling problems starts with good design, ideals and values. That includes running a government. Nye shows reverence to the canon of our nation in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. Notably, these founding documents are in the Canon of the CNO's Professional Reading Program.

Our founders, he says, put us on a path toward a more perfect union. "Just as science doesn't claim to attain absolute truth, the Constitution does not claim to achieve the utopian ideal of government," Nye writes. "Fortunately, the founders embraced a never-ending search for better ideas and better solutions."

This review of "Everything All at Once" just scratches the surface of what is a fun, thoughtful and compelling read, especially for Earth Day. Highly recommended.



Bill Nye, left, executive director of The Planetary Society, and science educator, gets excited as the Chief of Naval Research Rear. Adm. Nevin Carr presents him with a powered by Naval Research pocket protector during the Navy Office of General Counsel Spring 2011 Conference. (Photo by John Williams)