Looking East at the Gaia in Truro Cathedral

Added 1697829207 by Mike Lyne.

The Gaia (named after the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth) is one of several created touring artworks that show the Earth to give it that sense of the Overview Effect. It creates the awe that the early astronauts felt when seeing the Earth, especially during the Apollo missions to the moon, and particularly the now famous “Earthrise” photo of the Earth rising over the Lunar Landscape in December 1968 by astronaut William Anders during the Apollo 8 moon orbits.

This photo was taken when it was displayed in Truro Cathedral in Cornwall in October 2023. The artwork was created by UK Artist Luke Jerram which is touring the UK and overseas. It is an inflatable, 7m diameter, internally illuminated helium balloon, and 1 cm of the artwork represents 18km on the Earth’s surface. It is 1.8 million times smaller than the ‘real’ Earth and takes 4 minutes to make a complete revolution. It’s comprised of fifty printed panels at 120 dots per inch of photos provided by NASA.