EarthLight Foundation
Earthlight Foundation is a nonprofit organization focused on science and technology. It is based in Austin, TX.
“To carry the light of life to places now dark, the seeds of life to places now dead, and the eyes, hands and minds of humanity to places yet unseen, untouched and unknown.”
EarthLight is an Idea – and a Cause
The beautiful shot of the “little blue marble” from the Apollo 8 missions shifted our perspective of Earth and humanity and enabled us to appreciate our tiny home’s delicacy and fragility. The term “spaceship Earth” is more than a metaphor or analogy to us. Just as our MotherWorld exists in a bubble of life she created, as we begin to launch our smaller “bubbles” out into the cosmos, they offer tiny analogs for most of the lessons we need to learn down here. The spaceships, stations, and communities we will build in space have much to teach us.
For example, in space, if we mistreat our life support systems, we die. If we do not use everything we have carefully, recycle and reuse all we can, we die. If we do not work as one crew, with honor, respect, and trust in each other as if we are one family, we die.
Think of it this way – few people are more aware of the environment than a person floating above a window with the Earth below, re-breathing her own air, and re-drinking her own recycled urine.
Or like this – there is no tighter “family” of people who must utterly trust and respect each other in both calm and crisis, than those locked in a tiny bubble of life in which all depend on one another to survive.
EarthLight supports today’s environmental movement.
In many ways, EarthLight represents the environmental movement of space.
Yet, we go beyond being “pro-environment” as our goal is not just to save the MotherWorld, but to expand her life into the Solar System and Universe.
For example, we endorse the goal of getting the planet to net-zero carbon emissions and generally reducing the toxicity and destruction of many human interactions with our biosphere. We also believe that we can use space not just to study the dangers facing Earth but to help save her.
First, we have to “clean up” our own act. As much as it can teach us, in its early days, the space community and industry have reflected our culture’s general ignorance and disdain for our role as part of Earth’s ecosystem. Just as in society, it has been dominated by a primitive “use it and throw it away” mentality. Worse, it has often been true that the incentives and policies of the governments that have dominated space activities encouraged maximum waste, built-in obsolescence, and rewards for short-term planning and design.
This is the first part of EarthLight’s task. EarthLight is working to change this old conversation and mindset within the space community and industry. Thus, at times, we will highlight and work to change these old space ways of thinking, and programs, projects, and policies that continue ways that need to be left behind.
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DreamScopes: put telescopes in every middle school on Earth!
Remember The First Time You Looked Through A Telescope? Remember what it felt like to see the Rings of Saturn, the mountains of the Moon, the red world of Mars? How it felt as a child to see with your own eyes the Universe of possibility around you, to literally rise above and beyond the circumstances of your daily life and soar? Let's inspire the next generation of scientists, explorers, leaders, and builders of space ... together. Join Our “Moon Shot” Goal Let’s make it possible for every kid on Earth to look through a telescope; to see the mountains of the Moon, the ice caps of Mars, and the wonders of the Universe. Let’s inspire a generation to reach beyond their circumstances and Dream by placing a telescope in every middle school on Earth. Let’s spark their curiosity, launch them into STEAM subjects, and involve them in humanity’s expansion beyond Earth. They Will Rise! - The Leaders of the Space Revolution are Out There Now Somewhere out there on planet Earth is a young person who has never looked through a telescope. When they do, their life may well change. Maybe they will be inspired to study a bit more. Maybe they will decide they want to learn about science or astronomy, or by seeing other worlds they might become more aware of their own environment and work to help save the planet. Maybe they will decide they want to work in space, start a space company, or perhaps, just maybe, they will want to lead some of the first people to go out there. People whose children will look through telescopes back at their MotherWorld. The Time Is Now: A Global Technology Revolution is Underway The global technology sector is booming and this will only increase. Demand is growing for skilled workers, leaders crosses all sectors. STEAM education is a core investment in the future of every locale, nation, and the planet. A positive and inspiration-driven generation can be equipped and rise to meet these challenges. Space is proven as The most inspiring tool to motivate young minds Get kids hooked on Hope! You have the chance to help us get kids hooked on Dreams of a better future, addicted to science, learning, and building their own futures. Our Dream Dealers program allows you, your group, or your company to acquire or place DreamScopes anywhere you want. Be it one at your old middle school, or a hundred in the city where you live or grew up, even the country you call home, EarthLight will work with you to “make it so!” Better yet, we can work with you for you to be there, and have your name on every scope you help us place! A Choice of Tomorrows The EarthLight Foundation believes we all have the “Right Stuff,” and that given the Right Dream any kid anywhere can begin their own journey to a great tomorrow of their own creation. They may not all end up as astronauts, or building human communities in space, but some small fraction of them just might. Meanwhile, by giving them a chance to fly beyond the borders of their lives and see what is out there in the Universe around them at a critical age, we believe many more will choose to study, learn, and engage in acquiring STEAM skills – helpful no matter what dream they decide to pursue.
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