The Greater Earth System
Arthur Woods (*)
The Sun-Earth-Moon System of Greater Earth is an interdependent dynamic system that contributed to the emergence and evolution of life on Earth. Understanding the dynamic nature of this extended region of Earth and how it has functioned in a unique and incredible manner, adds insight on the future role of the human species in the evolution of life on Earth and in its relation to the Cosmos.
The Origin of Life in Greater Earth
Besides various religious explanations for the origin of life on planet Earth there are two prevailing scientific theories. The most widely accepted theory is that of Neo-Darwinism which incorporates the genetic work of Gregor Mendel into the seminal concepts of Charles Darwin. Neo-Darwinists assume that, under favorable conditions, life appeared from non-living material such as organic compounds via a process called abiogenesis [1]. Evolution is driven by chance, and chance mutations slightly affect the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid). Bigger changes are the result of recombination, a genetic process in which DNA strands are swapped, transferred, or doubled. The mechanisms behind evolution are mutation and recombination, which create new meaning in DNA through adaptation and the process of natural selection. The immense tidal forces mentioned above may have been favorable to the multiplication and recombination of DNA in the organic soup. However, DNA is such a complex molecule it is difficult to imagine it occurred by a purely random process. Indeed, DNA cannot exist without life, and life cannot exist without DNA as the two are totally interdependent. Therefore, where did the original DNA come from?
An answer to this question is possibly found in a competing theory of evolution called panspermia [2] [3]. The Greek philosopher Anaxagoras (500BC – 428 BC) who is believed to have been the teacher of Socrates first scientifically articulated this theoretical concept. It assumes that life is distributed throughout the universe in the form of germs or spores and that the arrival of such microbes contributed to the origin of life on Earth. These microbiotic elements arrived either via impacting comets and meteors or, in the case of directed panspermia, were intentionally sent into the Cosmos by advanced extraterrestrial alien civilizations.
A more recent version of the directed panspermia theory is called “Cosmic Ancestry” which holds that life on Earth was seeded by bacterial microbes from space that contained the genetic programs necessary for the evolution of life. In this scenario, evolution is pre-programmed into these genes in order to lead to ever-higher organisms. British astronomers Frank Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe announced in the 1970’s that interstellar space contains “organic compounds” and that comets could transport such compounds over the large distances of the universe and even protect them from the hazards of UV radiation. Recent scientific discoveries of ancient bacteria having survived hostile environments both here on Earth and in space lend credence to the panspermia theoretical speculations [4].
Astrobiology, a term first proposed by the Russian astronomer Gavriil Thkhov in 1953, investigates the link between life and the universe, which includes the search for extraterrestrial life, but also includes the study of life on Earth, its origin, its evolution and its limits [5]. In 1998, NASA created the Astrobiology Institute which undertakes a broad range of activities embracing basic research, technology development and flight missions to help scientists understand the future course of life on Earth. Astrobiologists address three fundamental questions: How does life begin and evolve? Is there life elsewhere in the universe? What is the future of life on Earth and beyond? [6] Whether life on Earth appeared spontaneously from the primordial organic soup, or if the seeds of life arrived from an extraterrestrial source, the dynamic interaction between the Sun, the Moon and the Earth provided an environment conducive for life to evolve once it appeared.
The distance from the Earth to the Sun is 150 million km which called one astronomical unit or AU. All celestial bodies of significant concentrated mass exert a field of gravitational attraction – a sphere of influence - around their cores which extends to the point of tangential intersection with other celestial bodies. Earth’s gravitational influence extends 1.5 million kilometers in all directions from its center where it meets the gravitational influence of the Sun. This distance is 100th of an AU. This distance indicates the radius and outer boundary of the region of Greater Earth which creates a sphere with a diameter of 3 million km. This sphere with our planet at the center has 13 million times the volume of physical Earth and through it, passes more than 55,000 times the amount of solar energy which is available on the surface of the planet. Inside this sphere is the Moon and occasional passing asteroids.
The Sun-Earth-Moon System of Greater Earth
The Sun’s energy that reaches the Earth’s surface warms the planet, drives the hydrologic cycle and is the primary source of energy for the climate system which keeps Earth suitable for life. Solar activity which modulates the influx of galactic cosmic rays (high-speed particles that strike the Earth from space), has been shown to have a direct influence on cloud formation and has been correlated with warmer periods during high solar activity and cooling periods during low levels of solar activity [7]. Once water arrived on Earth, the Sun’s energy, its solar activity cycles and its gravitational influence on both the Earth and the Moon have created a complex, interactive and dynamic system. Thus, this cosmic dance between the Earth, the Moon and the Sun surely contributed significantly to the emergence of life in the oceans and later, the periodic tidal fluctuations may have led to the subsequent development of land creatures as aquatic creatures adapted to brief periods of exposure on dry land. The stabilizing effect of the Moon on the Earth’s tilt within the narrow range of 21.5o and 24.5o lessened the impact of extreme climate changes enhancing the environment for intelligent life to come into existence. Thus, without this dynamic relationship between the Sun, the Moon and the Earth, life and indeed, humanity may never have emerged and evolved on our planet [8].
Probably the first scientific mention about how this dynamic system began functioning on Earth was by the Scottish scientist James Hutton, when, in 1785, he called the Earth a living superorganism and said its proper study should be physiology [9]. Hutton came to believe that the Earth was perpetually being formed and he recognized that the history of Earth could be determined by understanding how processes such as erosion and sedimentation work in the present day [10] [11].
150 years later, Russian geochemist Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky, who is most noted for his 1926 book “The Biosphere” called life “a disperse of rock,” because he saw life as a chemical process transforming rock into highly active living matter and back, breaking it up, and moving it about in an endless cyclical process in effect that life is a geological force that shapes the Earth. Vernadsky proposed that the Earth went through three stages of development: the geosphere (inanimate matter) which was transformed by the biosphere (biological life) which is being transformed into the noosphere by the emergence of human cognition [12].
As the principles of both life and cognition are essential features of the Earth’s evolution, Vernadsky believed that these must have been implicit in the Earth all along eventually forming a sphere of human thought encircling the Earth and recognizing that humankind was becoming a powerful geological force [13]. The concept of the noosphere, which is derived from “nous” the Greek word for the mind, is jointly attributed to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Édouard Le Roy and Vernadsky who were all in contact with each other at the time [14]. The British biologist George E. Hutchinson who is considered as the “father of modern ecology”, was one of the first western scientists who expressed an interest in the view that life is a geochemical process of the Earth and that all processes of ecological systems: whether they be biological, physical or geological should be considered together [15].
These insights were all developed before the advent of spaceflight in the 20th century and provide a background to the Gaia hypothesis. Originally proposed by the chemist James Lovelock and co-developed by the microbiologist Lynn Margulis in the 1970s and now recognized as a theory, it focused on observing how the biosphere and the evolution of life forms contribute to the stability of global temperature, ocean salinity, oxygen in the atmosphere and other factors of habitability in a preferred homeostasis [16]. Lovelock, a scientist and inventor of an apparatus called the electron capture detector (ECD) used to detect tiny amounts of chemical compounds in the atmosphere, was invited by NASA in 1960s to help them devise instruments for detecting the presence of life on Mars. Lovelock realized that if life on Mars was bio-chemically or physically different from terrestrial life or, if the probe landed in a region of the planet that happened to be absent of life, such instruments would be ineffective. He then took a holistic approach to the problem and, realizing that life on Earth radically alters the atmosphere, he reasoned that analyzing the atmosphere of Mars might be a better approach. He was aware that the atmospheres of Mars and Venus are in a state of chemical equilibrium consisting mostly of carbon dioxide and, as such, they were essentially dead, whereas the Earth’s atmosphere was far from equilibrium and full of very active chemical processes. To him this was an indication that life existed on Earth and we could use approach this to look for life elsewhere in the Cosmos.
Lovelock discovered that these processes operated in such a way on Earth to regulate the environment by keeping it congenial for life even though the temperature of the Sun has been steadily increasing over millennia. From this he theorized that life on Earth operates like a superorganism that intimately involves a number of coordinated and interconnected processes involving the atmosphere, the Earth’s crust, the oceans and all of the life forms working together to regulate both the composition of the atmosphere and the temperature in order for life to exist and thrive on our planet. This integrated self-regulatory feedback system that he called Gaia – from the Greek goddess of the Earth and the ancestral mother of all life – has been going on for billions of years as life has evolved [17]. The main criticism of the Gaia theory is that it seemed to imply a teleological aspect that somehow the system appeared to function with a goal or purpose and that this lacks empirical scientific evidence. Lovelock has since stated that nowhere in his writings did he express the idea that planetary self-regulation is purposeful, or involves foresight or planning of the biota. However, he does maintain his faith in the Gaia theory which, simply stated, suggests that we inhabit and are part of a quasi-living entity that has the capacity for global homeostasis [18].
As planets must have just the right composition and be in just the right relationship to their star in order to come as alive as has Earth, evolution biologist and futurist Elisabet Sahtouris, inspired by the work of Lovelock and Margulis, describes this process of evolution by indicating that life did not just appear on the surface of Earth but rather the entire planet has become alive through an intricate web of cooperative mutual dependency. She views life as an autopoietic system that may be as large as the Earth or even larger, and that of Earthlife to be a planetary process as the chemical reactions of the planet’s crust speed up, these transform the crustal matter into a blanket of masses of microbes, which in turn transforms more of the crust into their livable home. As such, one could view the Earth as a self-creating living planet to distinguish it from it being a nonliving planet with life upon it [19].
Earth System Science (ESS), which has many correlations with the Gaia theory, is a relatively new discipline which considers interactions between the Earth’s spheres atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, geosphere, pedosphere, biosphere and, even, the magnetosphere – as well as the impact of human societies on these components [20]. ESS brings together researchers across both the natural and social sciences, from fields including ecology, economics, geology, glaciology, meteorology, oceanography, paleontology, sociology, and space science. ESS assumes a holistic view of the dynamic interaction between the Earth’s spheres and their many constituent subsystems, the resulting organization and time evolution of these systems, and their stability or instability [21]. One example from ESS is that the silicate weathering negative feedback mechanism has counteracted the steady brightening of the Sun by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, this cooling mechanism is near the limits of its operation, because CO2 has fallen to limiting levels for the majority of plants, which are key amplifiers of silicate weathering [22].
The Astronautical Aspect
Beginning on October 4, 1957 with the launch of the first artificial satellite Sputnik 1, humanity has continuously expanded the physical dimensions of its home planet by placing artificial satellites in Earth orbit. Since then about 25,000 satellites from more than 80 countries have been launched. As of early 2026, some 15,000 satellites are still in orbit, of which approximately 10,000 belong to SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. are communication satellites used by both private and governmental organizations. Approximately 570 satellites are in geostationary orbit or in geosynchronous orbits at 35,786 km from the Earth’s surface and, unless they are purposely removed, most of these satellites will probably remain in orbit permanently. Thus, in just over 68 years humanity has effectively expanded the territory of planet Earth from its solid dimensions of 12,756 km to a diameter of approximately 84,328 km with a sphere of satellites. If one considers that much of our global communications, the functioning of our economies, observations about the state of the environment and our national security systems are now dependent on this satellite technology, we can see this as an essential technical infrastructure that has enabled the aforementioned “noosphere” encircling and orbiting the Earth.
In 1959, the Soviet Union sent the first spacecraft Luna 1, 2 and 3 to successfully orbit and impact the Moon. In 1966, Luna 9 and 10 made the first soft landings and between 1970 and 1976 Luna spacecraft 16, 20 and 24 returned samples of lunar soil and rock to the Earth. Two Soviet/Russian Lunokhod rovers landed on the Moon in 1970 and 1973. Following President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 announcement of what became the Apollo program to send US astronauts to the Moon and to return them safely, a number of spacecraft were sent to orbit the Moon. Between 1969 and 1972, a total 24 US astronauts visited the Moon. Of these, 12 astronauts physically walked on its surface. Since then, the European Space Agency, India, Japan and China have successfully orbited the Moon and confirmed the discovery of lunar water. In 2013, China’s Change’3 landed a lunar rover on the Moon. Change’4 achieved humanity’s first soft landing on the far side of the Moon on January 3, 2019. In 2019 Israel’s spacecraft Beresheet crashed while attempting a soft landing and later in 2019, India launched Chandrayaan-2 with a lunar rover aboard but the landing was also unsuccessful. Since then, a number of space probes have landed on the Moon successfully: Chandrayaan-3 (2023), Odysseus / Intuative Machines M-1 (2024), Chang’e 6 (2024), Blue Ghost 1 (2025) and Intuative Machines IM-2 in 2025. In 2026, the United States launched Artemis II which successfully orbited the Moon with four astronauts aboard. All of these activities have extended human civilization into the nearest region of Greater Earth and even onto the surface of our closest celestial neighbor.
The Boundrary of Greater Earth
The outer boundary of Greater Earth provides excellent locations for observing the Sun, our planet and the entire Cosmos. At a distance of 1.5 million km between the Earth and the Sun is a place called Lagrange Point 1 (L1) in the Earth-Sun system. A Lagrange point is a location in space where the combined gravitational forces of two large bodies, such as Earth and the Sun or Earth and the Moon, equal the centrifugal force felt by a much smaller third body [23]. The Earth-Sun Lagrange Points determine the outer edge of Earth’s sphere of gravtational influence.
Lagrange Point 1 is where NASA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) and its Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) are located. Designed to study Earth’s climate, EPIC takes a photo of the Earth every two hours – in essence our planet is continuously observing itself [24]. L1 is also a useful spot for observing the Sun and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) to study the structure of the Sun, the solar wind and to provide forecasts of solar storms have also been placed there.
Lagrange Point 2 (L2) is located 1.5 million km from Earth on the opposite side the Earth-Sun Lagrangian system and is a suitable point to position space telescopes observing the Cosmos. The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) designed to make fundamental measurements of cosmology in support of the Standard Model was placed there and was active until 2010 when the European Space Agency’s more advanced Planck spacecraft was launched to study the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from 2009 until 2013. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), planned as a successor to the Hubble space telescope and designed to conduct a broad range of investigations in the fields of astronomy and cosmology, is due also to be positioned at L2 in 2021. The Large Ultra Violet Optical InfraRed (LUVOIR) Surveyor which is currently planned for launch in the year 2030 and will be also positioned at L2. LUVOIR will be an ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared free-flying instrument with a 15.1-meter diameter segmented design and instrumental capabilities are far in advance what we have today. LUVOIR would represent not an incremental improvement in space based astronomy, but a transformative one over any observatory ever proposed as it will have powers dwarfing both the 2.4-meter Hubble and the 6.5-meter Webb [25].
All these activities have clearly defined the region of Greater Earth and, as such, Earth’s true cosmic boundary. As many now believe we are living in the Anthropocene Epoch [26] in which humanity, with its technological capabilities, has become the equivalent to a geological force consciously impacting and changing Earth’s environment, the climate and the surrounding space, the teleological argument reenters the discussion when considering humanity’s present and future role in the Greater Earth System.
Conclusions
This article has attempted to show that Greater Earth is not only a region that operates under the laws of physics and celestial mechanics which defines its true cosmic dimensions and functionality, but it is also an interactive, interconnected biological and geophysical system that for billions of years has led to the appearance, evolution and maintenance of a living planet. This system has led to the emergence of a new bio-technological information system that has encircled the planet that enables knowledge to be created and instantly shared.
The formation of the Greater Earth System was a result of incredibly fortunate cosmic coincidences, including Earth being at the right distance from the right kind of star, having the right size, density and composition, then having an opportune collision with another celestial body which created the Moon which provided a gravitation influence which has helped to stabilize the climate and catalyze the evolutionary processes of life that eventually led to an intelligent technological species that has now enabled planet Earth to become both self-aware and capable of spreading its “seeds” to other places in the immediate cosmos.
As the 21st century unfolds, humanity finds that it needs more room and more resources to sustain its numbers and to maintain its thirst for further development and knowledge. The finite planetary resources that contributed immensely to its present state are being exhausted to unsustainable levels and their uncontrolled use within the biosphere is resulting in severe ecological damage as climatic and environmental changes pose a threat to future of all life. Governmental programs to address these issues with terrestrial solutions will lead to severe societal and geopolitical consequences.
Thus, humanity must take measures to consciously and intelligently intervene in Earth’s dynamic life systems in order to adapt to changes it is causing as well adapting to a constantly warming sun and other cosmic threats. As it is momentarily unequipped to occupy and transform a neighboring planet to meet its growing needs, humanity’s next logical step will be to discover and inhabit the last reaches of its own planet – to expand its activities to Earth’s true boundaries as defined by the laws of physics. Within the boundaries of Greater Earth our species will find the necessary room, resources, opportunities and inspiration that it will need to survive and prosper in the current millennium and, with some luck, to eventually become a spacefaring species.
Awareness of Greater Earth as a dynamic system unites the immense potential of space development with the critical terrestrial issues of ecological sustainability, environmental restoration, clean energy generation, global prosperity and international security. Occupying the region of Greater Earth including the Moon and geolunar space will contribute to making humanity universally conscious of its responsibility to all life sharing its home planet and of the crucial role and purpose of the human species in the evolution of life on Earth and beyond. Embracing the concept of Greater Earth as a new perception of our planet and understanding this as a dynamic system may be a viable strategy for merging the environmental and ecological movements with the economic goals of the space development community.
As many now believe we are living in the Anthropocene Epoch [26] in which humanity, with its technological capabilities, has become the equivalent to a geological force consciously impacting and changing Earth’s environment, the climate and the surrounding space, the teleological argument reenters the discussion when considering humanity’s present and future role in the Greater Earth System.
(*) Arthur R. Woods is an astronautical artist, independent researcher and entrepreneur. Two of his art-in-space projects were successfully flown on the Mir space station. He is a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics and founder and CEO of Astrostrom GmbH - a Swiss company dedicated to providing clean energy from space to Earth.
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