EarthBalls in Space
In March of 1992 and again in November of 2009 the NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched into orbit with seven astronauts & one inflatable EarthBall onboard.
During the first 9 day mission: STS-45 in 1992, comprising 143 Earth orbits and 3.7
million miles, the crew deployed the Earthball as an assistant
in filming the educational video "The Atmosphere Below."
For the 2009 mission STS-129: an EarthBall was sent up on the Atlantis by CBS News and deployed by Commander Jeff Williams, and also by Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi during his Earth Day 2010 video broadcast to Japanese school children from the International Space Station.
See EarthBalls Float Weightlessly in Space!
View three short clips at the Video Index page
This NASA-produced educational video featuring the Orbiting EarthBall shows how changes in the Earth's atmosphere are investigated from outer space aboard the shuttle.
More information is available from NASA SpaceLink.
Think about the picture of the Earth coming up over the horizon of the Moon, which I call the picture of the century. Every crew that went to the Moon took that same picture. It is probably as moving as anything in reorienting people's idea to the whole world concept." Don L. Lind, USA, STS 51-B
Commander Jeff Williams aboard the International Space Station, randomly selecting locations on Earth for CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman's series "Everyone in the World Has a Story".
