EARTH IS THE ONLY PLANET WHERE WE CAN SIT

Fixing our Eyes on the Earth

With the horrible scene of the disaster, The Great

East Japan Earthquake, before our eyes, we reminded

that we humans are only a part of nature and that the                            

Earth let us live on it. The disaster made us take strong

recognition of the earth itself and think about it more

than ever before.

The total Lunar Eclipse was visible from almost

all area of Japan in 2011. The event started at 21:45

on December 10, and ended at 01:18 the following

December 11. This was the first time in the last decade,

since July 16, 2000, that an entire eclipse could be

observed from beginning to end in Japan.

A lunar eclipse is one of the prime opportunities to

observe the Earth from the Earth itself, because they

allow us to see the Earth’s shadow on the lunar surface.

Since ancient times, people have tried to observe and

understand celestial bodies including the Earth, Lunar,

and Sun—as well as the universe.

The Voyager 1, launched in 1977 by the United States,

has been observing the solar system from a vantage

point farther from the earth than any other observation.

Voyager 1 is still navigating outer space about 17.7 billion

km away from the earth. If its exploration equipment

continues to function, it will be able to explore regions

outside of our solar system four years from now.

In 1961, Yuri Gagarin in the spacecraft Vostok-1

was the first person to see the Earth from outer space

with the human eyes. In 1969, Apollo crewmembers,

including Neil Armstrong, saw the earth with their own

eyes from the most distant place so far—the moon’s

surface.

Among the countries to continue to explore space,

Japan is ranked third in the world after Russia and the

United States for the longest time spent in space: a total

of 615 days as of November, 2011.

Aside from physical phenomena such as lunar

eclipses, there are increasing opportunities for us to

learn about the Earth through advancing scientific

technologies and the great success of the space

projects.

Satoshi Furukawa is one of the most respected

Japanese astronauts in the world. When he returned to

the Earth on November 22, 2011, an interview was held

immediately after he landed on the grasslands of the

Republic of Kazakhstan. He smiled at his interviewers

and said, “Thanks to gravity, I can now sit down on

the chair.” Indeed, humans are unable to sit or stand

without the earth’s gravity.

Through these opportunities, we are able to

reconsider the value of the Earth and whether our

current lifestyle is truly sustainable or not.