This will be the first time that you've been back to the International Space Station since 2013. What are you most looking forward to about returning?
I'm really looking forward to seeing familiar faces—floating through the hatch and seeing Drew and Jessica [NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir] and giving them a big hug. That's a great moment. Those emotions, if you see them on TV—the smiles and the laughing—are real. We're friends, colleagues, and coworkers, but also we're humans who are experiencing something super cool together. That first couple hours, I can't wait to experience that.
Of course, looking out the window is always fantastic, but we'll have limited handover time [before Morgan and Meir return to Earth], so I just want to soak up their experience for that week before they disappear on me a few days later.
(by Michael Greshko, accessed 3/28/20)
He is looking forward to seeing his friends.
Think about that. We've reached an era of space travel in which we now have a decent-sized community of people with repeated shared experiences in orbit. This isn't just a once-in-a-generation moon landing anymore. These people are working like you and me, only with a longer commute and a high level of social distancing (pun intended).
Think about that. We've reached an era of space travel in which we now have a decent-sized community of people with repeated shared experiences in orbit. This isn't just a once-in-a-generation moon landing anymore. These people are working like you and me, only with a longer commute and a high level of social distancing (pun intended).
With all the weirdness going on in our world today, it's nice to know that the now "normal" work of the astronauts of the ISS continues. Pretty amazing, when you stop and think about it.
Concentrate on the normal, even the "new normal" -- I like that!
ReplyDeleteEven on this dreary rainy day, with no one out for a walk, we continue our routine. Imagine looking forward to being back in space.
Great observation, Chris - it IS fascinating to think there would be such a substantial community of orbiters. What grabbed me in the quote is this: "We're humans who are experiencing something super cool together." It doesn't feel cool right now for us but I think cool stuff will come out of these days ... new things, new ways of doing ... and of course it all happens in the face of great risk. That's about as far as I can take my analogy between space exploration and the coronavirus - one was chosen and one was not - but let us hope great new discoveries still await as we go farther...
ReplyDeleteInteresting connection between the world of now and the work of space station astronauts. I feel I will ponder this connection for a while, a sign of a strong slice!
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