A Year in Space

Scott Kelly has returned to Earth! Safely. That may not seem like such a big deal to most of us, but for him I believe the readjustment is going to be interesting. 

As reported by the New York Times in the article titled, Scott Kelly, American Astronaut, Returns to Earth after 340 Days in Space,  Scott set a record for consecutive days in space by an American. Couples with his other trips off the planet, he has spent 540 days in space.

I can only imagine how it feels to be reacquainted with gravity.  Going from the relative freedom of microgravity and back to full gravity will likely take some adjustment. I wonder how long it takes a body to fully recover so that every step or breath is not painful?

Scott Kelly's Last Tweet from Space
The Sunrise

It was written that he observed 10,944 sunrises and sunsets! That is almost 30 years worth of sunrises and sunsets in less than a year! That would, in an of itself, be a spectacular experience. Living in a container for almost a year, however, is not something that I long to do, even with the incredible view. I have come to appreciate the smell of the morning and the feeling of the breeze upon my face.

Scott Kelly is an American hero! We have forgotten the time when astronauts received ticker-tape parades through New York City and the entire country celebrated their achievements. I believe we have become too focused upon the mundane and the political upheavals to allow our imaginations to soar away from the planet anymore even as the possibilities are becoming reality.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD