Peace on Earth

Viewing Earth from the vantage point of space reminds us that we are all dependent on each other and on the fragile limited life support system of the planet.

This image commemorates the 50th anniversary of the start of the space age. The first artificial satellite of Earth, Sputnik, was launched on October 4th, 1957. Coincidentally, the peace sign turned 50 years old in February 2008.

Sometimes people look at these images and think they are "Photoshopped", with parts cut out from photographs and pasted together. Everything you see in this image was created by me with a computer. The only exceptions are the NASA images that cover the Earth's surface. The Earth exists only as a sphere in a computer program. The Sputnik satellite is a computer model I created from scratch. For those still in doubt, take a look at another version of Sputnik.