Living the dream: Astronaut retires to fly others to the edge of space

Ron Garan at the One Young World summit. (credit: Fragile Oasis)

One of the most frustrating things about being an astronaut, fliers often say, is being unable to share the incredible experience of seeing our world from above with the rest of us. Astronauts go to space and the come back talking about things like seeing no borders, spaceship Earth, and the need to protect our planet both because of its beauty and fragility.

Perhaps no astronaut has taken this to heart more than Ron Garan, who left NASA in 2014 to work full time on sharing this unique perspective of the planet. Garan believes deeply in the “transformative power” of the big picture and how it compels people to address the challenges facing humanity back on Earth.

But Garan’s web sites, book, and documentary film can do only so much to help people see this bigger picture. Each medium has its limitations. Really, there’s no substitute for being there and seeing it with one's own eyes. So on Tuesday, Garan announced he’s joining World View, a company that will use balloons to loft passengers above 100,000 feet, as the company’s chief pilot.