Our
time of solitude is rapidly coming to an end. Our new crew mates
successfully launched very early this morning. With the 2 days they spend
in autonomous flight to reach us, they will arrive around 4 am on July
17. All of the preparations have been made for their arrival. Since
it was not too long ago that I arrived, I clearly remember those first few days
on the ISS. While the traditional hatch opening and having the
opportunity to talk with family and friends that made the trip to Russia are
wonderful experiences, I remember being tired and wanting desperately to take a
“bath” and put on some regular clean clothes. While we do have facilities
on the Soyuz and lots of opportunities to take cat naps, it sure was nice to be
home on the relatively spacious Space Station. While all of the new crew
members have been here before, we will do all we can to make the transition as
comfortable as possible. For Gennady, Sergey and I, we will begin another
sleep shift tomorrow. We will wake up at our normal time of 6 am and are
scheduled to go to sleep at 3:30 pm with a wake up at midnight. The day
of docking is a long day for all of the crews and we will be back to a normal
schedule on Wednesday. As I mentioned previously, HTV will be arriving 10
days later so we will all hit the road running.
Knowing
what Gennady is ahead, Sergey and I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. While
some work had to be done, overall it was an opportunity for us to recharge our
personal batteries and just enjoy the time. We were rewarded with the
results of the recent solar activity – the southern lights. I remember
seeing the auroras during my Shuttle flight and I thought it was the coolest
thing. Then I arrived this time and Don Pettit showed me the auroras and
they were much, much better than what I seen previously. I was happy as
could be. Then on Saturday, I was working out and in between sets I saw
that we were heading south during a night pass. So I decided my workout
could be postponed for a few minutes and I turned out all of the lights in Node
3. Within a couple of minutes, I could not believe what I was
seeing. It was absolutely incredible. I enjoyed the show for a few
minutes and then felt I had to inform my crew mates so they could also take in
the view. Even Gennady, with all of his time on orbit, was amazed.
I am no expert with a camera but I tried to capture at least a small reminder
of the experience. The pictures were not great, but they would do.
So today, at around the same time of day, I thought I would take one more look.
Just when you think it can’t get much better, it gets way better. I of
course took some obligatory pictures, but then I just sat in the dark, in the
peace and quiet of this incredible man made, orbiting laboratory and just
looked out the window in awe. What a truly magnificent planet we live on
and solar system we live in. I could not have asked for a better way to
mark the middle of my Expedition and to start what will be a challenging and
rewarding time on the International Space Station.
Keywords
– Few words from Astronaut Joe Acaba in Expedition 32, crew mates in
International Space Station, Orbiting laboratory, rewarding time on the
International Space Station.
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