For release March 20, 2009 (MMD Newswire) -- Not since Apollo 17 in 1972 have we seen photographs of the whole Earth as the astronauts did from the moon - images that profoundly affected the world and all those who viewed them. That may all change within the next three years.

In honor of International Earth Day, March 20th, the Future Link Foundation today announced plans to participate, in cooperation with a private space company, in launching a satellite into orbit with a special camera that will take continuous pictures and send them back to Earth, creating a real-time image of our whole planet as it turns on its axis. This near-live image will then be made available to individuals and companies around the world for their cell phones, TVs, and computers via the Internet.

Donald Williams, shuttle pilot for Discovery and spacecraft commander for Atlantis, once said, "For those who have seen the Earth from space, and for the hundreds and perhaps thousands more who will, the experience most certainly changes your perspective."

Eileen Collins, the first female space shuttle commander, also had a profound experience as she saw the Earth from afar. "You change because you see your life differently than when you live on the surface everyday," she explained.

The satellite will orbit the Sun, not the Earth, four times farther away than the Moon and will take continuous, high-resolution color pictures of the sunlit side of the Earth. Normal satellites are too close to the Earth to see the whole planet in one frame.

"The project began with a dream that Vice-President Al Gore had in 1998," according to Sten Linnander, President of Future Link Foundation. "Unfortunately, NASA was never able to launch a satellite they built for this purpose, and we have now taken on the responsibility to make this dream come true."

The last photo of the entire planet, taken by the crew of Apollo 17 on December 7, 1972, is called the "Blue Marble" and said to be the most published photograph in history. No humans since have been far enough away from the Earth to take photographs of the whole Earth. Only two dozen men - those who journeyed to the moon - have seen the full Earth view.

"Back in the 1970's, the world was electrified when the first photos of the entire earth from space were published," continued Linnander. "They fuelled an awareness of the vulnerability of the Earth which still resonates with us today and shapes our behavior, and they helped trigger the environmental movement. Forty years later - in these difficult and dramatic times - we believe that, more than ever, a shift of perspective toward a sense of kinship with the Earth and all its living beings would go far toward bringing humanity together. Living with these live images of the Earth can remind us of our interdependency on one another and on the Earth itself."

For more information, visit www.future-link.org

Contact: Sten Linnander, Ph: +49(0)69-98559259, Email: sten@future-link.org

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