Change
Well, we are essentially packed – we even put away our Harry Potter glasses…(medical glasses to adjust for ANY vision changes with one pair of glasses). Too bad they look dorky. 100 years ago or so, we started flying, Girl Scouts were established and the Oreo cookie was invented50 years ...Read More
Packing for Earth
Now it is time to start thinking about coming home. Up to this point I haven’t, and sort of denied it. I am still in denial, but I am going through the motions because I don’t want to forget something when the hatch closes…so we are preparing. Space is just ...Read More
Turning Over A New Leaf
Fall is beginning in the northern hemisphere. It is easy to see that from up here – the many agricultural fields that were bright green two months ago are all starting to become brown. You can’t stop time. It’s funny, these things, the natural changes on Earth, the seasons, the ...Read More
Space is Busy, Active and Unkind
We have been pretty much up to our ears in EVA - extravehicular activity or spacewalking - preparations and then spacewalking! I think most of you know we had a spacewalk using the robotic arm Thursday, August 30th. It went sort of long. Getting tools ready You don’t just “go ...Read More
Every Person Knows The Name Neil Armstrong
Saturday was a sad day for this planet. I was thinking about it, and I’ll bet practically every person on (and off) this planet knows the name Neil Armstrong. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, what you do for a living, what kind of car you ...Read More
Laboratory In Space
Lots of fun and interesting science with a quick break for the arrival of Progress (unpiloted resupply ship). That means even fresher fruit and care packages for us, as well as lots of supplies, including our EVA cables…more on that in a later post. We are not the experts in ...Read More
Spidernauts!
People always ask if it gets boring up here. I can unequivocally say NEVER! It seems like something is always happening. We were talking about all the activities we do in one day, and how they can range from vacuuming, to changing out the toilet can, to drawing blood, taking ...Read More
Jack of All Trades
We are here! Wow, what a ride here, what a place to end up. I am so lucky and blessed to be doing the things I am doing. I hope, and truly believe, that what we are doing up here in space will eventually help all of humanity through exploration, ...Read More
Agat is Up. Hair is Down.
In the meantime, Yuri, Aki and I got our haircuts - a tradition before launch. The prime crew is not allowed to go to the Soyuz rollout, but all our family and friends were there on a gorgeous Kazakh morning!!!! Agat is up, hair is down. Editor's note: Agat is ...Read More
Agat and the Business End
We got to go into the Soyuz spacecraft one last time to check it out, to see where our stuff is stowed, and to make sure everything is where we want it. “Agat” is beautiful! I refer to her as Agat since that is Yuri Malenchenko's call sign. If you ...Read More
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