Spirituality, humanism, and the Overview Effect during manned space missions

• Published in: Acta astronautica 2020-01, Vol.166, p.525-528
• Main Author: Kanas, Nick
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Astronauts; Cosmonauts; Earth; Fragility; Manned space flight; Planets; Questions; Space missions; Unity
• ISSN: 0094-5765; 1879-2030
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2018.08.004

Many astronauts experience intense emotional reactions to viewing the Earth from space that changes the way they see the planet and humanity's place in the universe. Frank White has described this phenomenon as the Overview Effect. This has been described in both spiritual and humanistic terms. But what exactly is the difference or similarity between these two reactions, and to what extent do these reactions reflect new experiences versus pre-launch values? To answer these questions, a reexamination was made of the findings from our previous study on positive effects of being in space, but with a focus on various aspects of the Overview Effect. The study involved astronauts and cosmonauts recruited from the Association of Space Explorers and the NASA astronaut corps at the Johnson Space Center. A total of 39 respondents completed the Positive Effects of Being in Space questionnaire, which consisted of 36 statements that subjects were asked to evaluate in terms of change they experienced as a result of being in space. The questions clustered into 8 subscales. Although all of the respondents had a positive reaction to being in space, the Perceptions of Earth subscale was the only one with a mean score that was significantly different from the others, reflecting a moderate degree of change. The Earth was viewed as a beautiful, fragile object to be treasured, and changes in this perception significantly correlated with a statement that suggested that the respondents became involved in environmental causes after returning home. In addition to these perceptual changes about the Earth, some subjects said that their space experience gave them a better understanding of the unity of humankind and a stronger sense of wonder and appreciation for the Cosmos, but to a small degree of change from pre-launch values. A subscale indicating spiritual change scored last among the 8 subscales, resulting in no to very small change. This might have been due to the fact that many respondents indicated that there was no possibility for change because their feelings about these spiritual issues were already as high as possible before launch. The findings from this study provide empirical support for the Overview Effect, suggesting that seeing the Earth from space may cause many astronauts to change their worldview on the fragility of the planet and the unity of humankind. In contrast to this more humanistic reaction, there was essentially no change in spiritual attitudes as a resul