If you were Martian and landed on Earth, you’d be stunned by the natural beauty of the blue planet. Even more, your first impressions of Earth’s splendor would vary significantly depending on where you set down; much of the American Southwest resembles Mars itself, while the grassy plains, lush rainforests, and arctic hinterlands would truly feel an alien world.

There’s so much breathtaking beauty all around this planet, it would be a shame not to explore it, to experience it. How enviable those Martians would be, that we happened to inherit a world full of life, water, and wonder.

Maybe we would look upon each other differently if more of us traveled, maybe we would better understand that our presence here is a privilege. Humanity could not ask for a better base, a more magnificent domain, from which to experience the universe.