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You how they say that a larger perspective gives you a better view? Well, that’s quite easy to imagine here, on earth. However, imagine if you were to look upon our planet from outer space; especially if you were doing this for almost a year. Then, you’d most likely get a pretty impressive view of things. This has been an astronaut’s life for almost a year, as Scott Kelly says Earth looks very fragile.
Scott Kelly about Earth from space
During what was most likely the astronaut’s last interview aboard the International Space Station, Scott Kelly just happened to mention in passing that the blue planet’s atmosphere looked very fragile from up there, in space. He also said that our big blue marble needs us to take care of it.
As he is about to come back home in March, Scott Kelly had one last interview to give before his departure. Talking through satellite link, he answered a few questions regarding how Earth looked like from on board the International Space Station.
The astronaut described parts of South America and Asia looking like they were engulfed in a thick layer of smog (which they actually are), and that they looked like they had a sort of sickness about them. He continued to say that cyclones were also visible from up there.
#YearInSpace
Kelly has spent more time in space than any other man or woman in history, clocking in at 501 days so far. Today’s interview was during his 321st day on board the ISS as part of his current mission. After all this time spent up there, his body has taken suffered some changes because of the conditions.
Most of these affected his eyesight, bones, circulatory system, microbiome, as well as his psyche. However, fortunately, most of the effects will wear off over time once he comes back from zero G. According to him, some body functions may have shown a few signs of getting weaker, but it was nothing serious or life threatening.
Scott has a twin brother, Mark, who is also an astronaut. When Scott gets back to Earth, the two will be studied in order to determine the effects of a year in space on the human body.
As part of his “Year in Space” mission, the astronaut has been engaging in quite a lot of social media activity, including post breathtaking pictures of our planet as seen from the ISS, AMA sessions (ask me anything), Twitter and Facebook debates, and even a pretty good cover of David Bowie’s Space Oddity which was taken down at one point, but reuploaded with the author’s permission.
Image source: Wikimedia
