A single look at Earth from space changed this NASA astronaut's entire worldview

NASA astronaut José Hernández recently revealed how space completely changed his perspective on Earth and humanity. In a clip from the Museum of Science shared by Reddit user u/TheMuseumOfScience, Hernández recalled the moment he looked out the port window of the Space Shuttle Discovery and saw no visible borders. The video comes from a longer conversation hosted by the Museum of Science in Boston, where Hernández spoke with planetarium educator Talia Sepersky about how leaving Earth changed how he sees it.

"I get out and unbuckle my seat belt, and float for the first time, and look at our earth from the port window. You can see Canada, the US, and Mexico, but what you couldn't tell was where one country ended and another began," he said. He continued, "I had to go out of this world to realize that down there, we’re just one. We’re just the human species, and borders are created by humankind, designed to separate us. And how sad, because from this perspective, we're just one." Hernández added that if more people could witness Earth from that vantage point, the world might be a more peaceful place.

Later in the interview, he described another moment that struck him deeply: watching a sunrise from orbit. As the sun came around the Earth, he noticed how thin the atmosphere looked. That was the moment he said he became an "instant environmentalist." "I said, those folks have it right, that if we don't become good stewards of our planet's environment, the same thing could happen with what is suspected happened on Mars," he said. Hernández isn’t the only one who’s had that reaction. A 2016 study published in Acta Astronautica surveyed 39 astronauts and cosmonauts and found that spaceflight consistently increased pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. Many reported seeing Earth as fragile and worth protecting, often returning home with a renewed sense of responsibility toward the planet.

Hernández, who grew up as the son of migrant farmworkers and was rejected by NASA 11 times before finally making it into the astronaut program, said space not only fulfilled his childhood dream, but it also gave him a reason to speak up. Since returning to Earth, Hernández said he’s committed to sharing what he saw, not just the beauty of space, but the realization that our divisions are human-made. He now uses his platform to advocate for science, unity, and care for the planet. "I still float sometimes in my dreams. But even when I’m grounded, I carry that view with me. Anytime I get a chance to talk about this, I’m going to talk about it," he said.

Reddit users connected deeply with his reflections. u/re9876 wrote, "Wow, when I drive across a city limit, I see the same thing. It looks the same on one side as it does on the other. It’s like the geography doesn’t care what it’s called. It’s how the people use the geography that matters in things like city limits, maybe even all the way up to country lines too." u/AroundTheRoy said, "So true… we are the one singularity. Just greed and no education separate us all." u/werE_noT_alone added, "Just sad it takes THAT to realize we’re ALL one species. I’m 36, and I’ve known that my whole life. Until we collectively see humanity as one, there will never be peace on Earth."