"I can see the Earth. It is so beautiful." These were the first words ever spoken in space, by the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 1961, and they were visionary in every sense.
It is only really since we have been able to look at our Earth from the outside – from space – that we have begun to understand the physical processes that govern its behaviour, to apprehend its fragilities, and to gain the first insights into our responsibilities in terms of how we use its resources. Earth observation from space has truly revolutionised how we view our home planet.
