Panoramic pictures of Earth's atmosphere and surface provided a majestic backdrop for Story Musgrave at John R. Emens Auditorium on Tuesday night.
Almost 300 people came to Emens to see the former NASA astronaut present "Earth As Art: A Message of Inspiration and Wonder."
Musgrave was an astronaut for more than 30 years who flew on six spaceflights before retiring in 1997.
He has seven graduate degrees in math, computers, chemistry, physiology, psychology, literature and medicine and has been awarded 20 honorary doctorates.
He performed the first shuttle space walk on the Challenger's first flight and was the lead spacewalker on the Hubble Telescope repair mission.
In his presentation, Musgrave talked about his beginnings on a farm in Massachusetts, his work as a palm farmer in Florida and his experience as an astronaut.
Musgrave showed numerous pictures of airplane flights, space training and space centers to illustrate what he called "the beautiful juxtaposition of nature and technology."
He showed pictures taken from space of the Himalayas, Mt. Everest, vegetable farms in Saudi Arabia, San Francisco and numerous hurricanes and thunderstorms.
At the end of his presentation he showed pictures taken by the Hubble Telescope of supernovas, Saturn, Jupiter and the Milky Way galaxy.
Musgrave emphasized the importance of space exploration.
"It is not over," Musgrave said. "Space is that quest for the universe and what it means to be a human being."
Freshman theater and Spanish major Teah Aldred said she had grown up around engineers and horticulturists and understands the space between technology and nature.
"I thought it was wonderful," Aldred said of the speech. "I am amazed that one person can accomplish so much in one lifetime."
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