Ron Garan spent 178 days orbiting our planet, traveling millions of miles through space—but what really transformed him was looking back at Earth. The former NASA astronaut experienced what scientists call the “overview effect,” a profound shift in perspective that made him realize humanity has been living a dangerous illusion.
From space, Earth isn’t divided by borders or economies—it’s a single, breathtakingly fragile biosphere. Garan saw our planet’s razor-thin atmosphere, realizing how human systems treat nature as expendable. “We’ve got it backwards,” he now says. “The economy should serve life, not the other way around.”
This revelation changed everything for Garan. Today, he works through his nonprofit to provide clean water worldwide, urging us all to see Earth as astronauts do: not as territory to exploit, but as our only home to protect.
