Davis: Looking at the Earth from space, it's phenomenal. Just magnificent views that you can see with your eyes, which cameras — whether video or still photography — can't capture. So that was my favorite thing to do. But that was not our job. We had very, very busy missions and lots of science and other things. I didn't get that much chance to look out the window, but when I did, I think my perspective on the Earth changed in a couple of ways.
The layer of that atmosphere is so thin. It's like the peel of an orange. So I saw and realized how fragile our atmosphere and our environment really is. You could see areas affected by people. You can also see where dust or smoke or something would travel from one continent, across the ocean, to another continent. So what happens in your local area, and what you do to the atmosphere affects somebody somewhere else on the Earth.
The second was similar, but relates to the people on the Earth. When you go around the Earth, in an hour and a half, you see these countries go by. You don't see borders or different countries. You see one place. We're all neighbors. We're all inhabitants of this Earth. Gosh, if people could see that perspective from space, maybe we wouldn't have wars or violence or people hurting each other. We need to take care of our home, but we also need to take care of each other.