On July 19, with the information that our planet would be in pictures taken that day due to a rare total eclipse of the sun, NASA asked people all over the world to take a few minutes out of their normal everyday life to spot the planet in the sky and wave their hands at Cassini, 900 million miles away.
In total, people from 40 countries and 30 U.S. states sent pictures of themselves waving at the spacecraft to various social media outlets.
To thank those who graciously participated, NASA created a mosaic of Earth using the photos submitted.
‘It’s just thrilling me to no end that people all over the world took a break from their normal activities to go outside and celebrate the interplanetary salute between robot and maker that these images represent,’ said Carolyn Porco, lead of the Cassini imaging team.
