I was thinking...while I am here...

HB Chris

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Uh oh, you mean these?
 

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rsporsche

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I have never, in 18 years, met an individual who was not enthusiastic about space exploration. In the words of John Young, single planet species do not last. So if for no other reason, what we do is important for the simple reason of continued existence. Further than that, everything we do off the earth is for the earth. And at less than 0.5 % of the annual federal budget, NASA is really giving great return on tax payer investment.
i remember exactly where i was when Neil Armstrong stepped out on the surface of the moon in July 1969. i was at the Boy Scout National Jamboree in Farragut St. Park Idaho. We were able to watch it projected on a giant screen (like a drive-in theater) with many thousands of teenagers. the roar was unforgettable. i watched every Gemini and Apollo mission. Skip forward to the early 80's when i worked in Houston in an office building on the west loop with a clear view of the western sky ... seeing the plane carrying the first space shuttle on its roof to return it to NASA. it was a really cool time in American history. fast forward many years ... and its still really frickin' cool. having an astronaut who shares the love of the same classic car as all of us ... priceless.

so Drew, you gotta tag the space station with an e9coupe badge, label or something ... then post it with a view back to earth.
 

rsporsche

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Do we look like a Lands End catalog? lol
why of course you do ... so since this thread has me on trips down memory lane ... anybody else know what business Lands End started in? i think i still have catalogs from '71 thru '73.
 

dave v. in nc

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I've always been a big fan since Telstar...I also cant imagine anyone not fascinated with space, the earth, the weather, etc..but I did hear an interview on NPR last week with Frank Borman. He's 91 now and claims to have had no excitement about space, travel, etc...claims only to get excited about planes; may explain the Eastern Airlines stint. I think he is the guy that shot the first "earthrise" photo...said that was the most interesting part of the Apollo mission. He sort of left the program and went home, to be with the family. I think I heard that there is a documentary soon but missed the specifics; see what I can find. Feel free to correct me if I convoluted any truths...

We are all proud to have you up there, and admire your passion for it...And now to my question...For various reasons, I really suck at sleeping. Do you folks have a set number of hours that are considered daytime, versus nighttime? Since the circadian light/dark rhythm is different up there, how is it handled? Do you just all become Texans for the sake of watch synchro and meals? Do you pay any attention to time?

We just put my 96.5-year-old mom into hospice, and I mentioned your mission, as we were comparing one of her meals to early NASA meals in space (I think it used to be baked ham and green beans)...she would appreciate if you could waggle the wings next trip over NC. Thanks. Have fun and stay safe.
Dave V. in western NC USA

Edit..."Earthrise" is the name of the doc...Nov 19 POV Shorts, and streaming on POV.org. No narration, just the words of the guys on "8". It premiered in NYC (I think it said) on Sept 5; was awarded "best short doc"...should be pretty cool stuff, and Drew will be home to see it (if they didn't already get an early viewing).
 
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Wes

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My 12 y.o son wants t know what the food is like up there and how do you stop falling out of bed?
He's a bit concerned for you after watching a food doco on space food :)
I'd like to know how you manage to tell day from night and keep your sleep consistent and if you fly over Tasmania?

Cheers
Wes
 

dave v. in nc

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Nice pictures of Florence...we're in western NC, and that's even a little worrisome. I think my Haggerty is up to snuff, we have water for both, propane, beer and batteries, etc. Just before Hugo, there were many stories of people taking less than perfect boats TOWARD the coast for insurance purposes. Keep the great pictures coming, and be safe.
 

Sven

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Drew - I am curious what is it like when you come back down to full gravity. I assume you exercise regularly up there, but still it must feel a bit awkward. Thanks for all the comments and photos.
 

Bmachine

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There have been several interesting experiments but the one I liked the best was growing lettuce. The best part was that we got to eat it. :)
Could you please expand on this? Down here in the low lands, growing lettuce is about as exciting as watching the paint dry. What suddenly makes it a "best liked activity" up there? What is different about it?
 

Stan

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Drew, How long will you be up there? My grandson's 1st grade class has an astronaut module coming up and wonders if they can ask questions at the end of September.
 

afeustel

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I've always been a big fan since Telstar...I also cant imagine anyone not fascinated with space, the earth, the weather, etc..but I did hear an interview on NPR last week with Frank Borman. He's 91 now and claims to have had no excitement about space, travel, etc...claims only to get excited about planes; may explain the Eastern Airlines stint. I think he is the guy that shot the first "earthrise" photo...said that was the most interesting part of the Apollo mission. He sort of left the program and went home, to be with the family. I think I heard that there is a documentary soon but missed the specifics; see what I can find. Feel free to correct me if I convoluted any truths...

We are all proud to have you up there, and admire your passion for it...And now to my question...For various reasons, I really suck at sleeping. Do you folks have a set number of hours that are considered daytime, versus nighttime? Since the circadian light/dark rhythm is different up there, how is it handled? Do you just all become Texans for the sake of watch synchro and meals? Do you pay any attention to time?

We just put my 96.5-year-old mom into hospice, and I mentioned your mission, as we were comparing one of her meals to early NASA meals in space (I think it used to be baked ham and green beans)...she would appreciate if you could waggle the wings next trip over NC. Thanks. Have fun and stay safe.
Dave V. in western NC USA

Edit..."Earthrise" is the name of the doc...Nov 19 POV Shorts, and streaming on POV.org. No narration, just the words of the guys on "8". It premiered in NYC (I think it said) on Sept 5; was awarded "best short doc"...should be pretty cool stuff, and Drew will be home to see it (if they didn't already get an early viewing).

Hi Dave. We definitely pay attention to time and we operate on Greenwich Mean Time. That allows us to work during normal business hours part of the day for both Moscow and Houston (our prime control centers). The crew on orbit all work to the same schedule. Bed at 21:30 and wake at 06:00. That said, up here I sleep between 6.5-7.5 hours each night.
 

afeustel

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My 12 y.o son wants t know what the food is like up there and how do you stop falling out of bed?
He's a bit concerned for you after watching a food doco on space food :)
I'd like to know how you manage to tell day from night and keep your sleep consistent and if you fly over Tasmania?

Cheers
Wes
Hi Wes. See my response to Dave Also, right now we are primarily flying over Tasmania in the early morning hours. I snapped a pic for you but it was a bit cloudy! Cannot seem to upload the pic even though it is only 700 kB. Tell your son the food is just ok. For sleep, our sleeping bags are hooked to the wall and we stay zipped inside.
 
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afeustel

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Drew - I am curious what is it like when you come back down to full gravity. I assume you exercise regularly up there, but still it must feel a bit awkward. Thanks for all the comments and photos.
Hi Sven. We can walk on our own within a few hours of landing. Takes a few days for a normal gate. PT/rehab for 45 days and then we estimate about a day on earth for every day in space to really get back to your 1G self.
 

afeustel

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Could you please expand on this? Down here in the low lands, growing lettuce is about as exciting as watching the paint dry. What suddenly makes it a "best liked activity" up there? What is different about it?
I like it because we see the fruits of our work and we can eat it. Don’t get me wrong, we do some cool science up here but rarely do we see the results. Experiments are not normally designed and completed on orbit, some span many crew compliments. We as Astronauts are the operators for reachers on earth. We are the hands, eyes, and ears for the team. With the lettuce, we plant it, water it, then eat it. That is a satisfying experience.
 

afeustel

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Drew, How long will you be up there? My grandson's 1st grade class has an astronaut module coming up and wonders if they can ask questions at the end of September.
Hi Stan. We are pretty busy up here but if you send me 3 questions, I will do my best to answer.
 

Ohmess

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Hi Drew -- your comments on PT and gait are really interesting (I remember reading somewhere that having legs is actually detrimental to most things you do in space). Do you experience other transitory physiological effects of being in space, perhaps not obviously tied to gravity? Things like changes in vision, smell, or the rate at which your beard grows or whatever?
 

Bmachine

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I like it because we see the fruits of our work and we can eat it. Don’t get me wrong, we do some cool science up here but rarely do we see the results. Experiments are not normally designed and completed on orbit, some span many crew compliments. We as Astronauts are the operators for reachers on earth. We are the hands, eyes, and ears for the team. With the lettuce, we plant it, water it, then eat it. That is a satisfying experience.
Thank you for that reply. So it's kind of the same as down here where you work at a computer every day of the week, adding some invisible piece to the company puzzle but then on the weekend, you work on your coupe and you see it physically getting better by the day. Most of the time we don't get to eat it at the end but, to make up we can drive it to go buy some lettuce.
 

Stan

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Hi Stan. We are pretty busy up here but if you send me 3 questions, I will do my best to answer.
I wonder what a bunch of first graders will ask? I suppose many of the questions that were already asked.
Did you bring salad dressing for the lettuce?
 

dave v. in nc

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Thanks for getting back, as we know that you are at least moderately busy up there :). Its great that people cant really see everything that I do...or dont. Gotta be tough living under a microscope...Appreciate you being the guy up there.
 
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