#astronauts

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Laid-back in orbit, they found their minds.
They found their minds were very clean and clear.
Clear crystals in swarms outside were their fireflies and larks.
Larks they were in lift-off, swallows in soaring…

—Edwin Morgan, “A Home in Space”
from CENTENARY SELECTED POEMS (Carcanet, 2020)

, 20 July, 1969, Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon

https://www.carcanet.co.uk/9781784109967/centenary-selected-poems/

A Home in Space Edwin Morgan Laid-back in orbit, they found their minds. They found their minds were very clean and clear. Clear crystals in swarms outside were their fireflies and larks. Larks they were in lift-off, swallows in soaring. Soaring metal is flight and nest together. Together they must hatch. Hatches let the welders out. Out went the whitesuit riggers with frames as light as air. Air was millions under lock and key. Key-ins had computers wild on Saturday nights. Nights, days, months, years they lived in space. Space shone black in their eyes. Eyes, hands, food-tubes, screens, lenses, keys were one. One night – or day – or month – or year – they all – all gathered at the panel and agreed – agreed to cut communication with – with the earth base – and it must be said they were – were cool and clear as they dismantled the station and – and gave their capsule such power that – that they launched themselves outwards – outwards in an impeccable trajectory, that band – that band of tranquil defiers, not to plant any – any home with roots but to keep a – a voyaging generation voyaging, and as far – as far as there would ever be a home in space – space that needs time and time that needs life.

"I think the success of a book, or whether it's saying to the reader what you want it to say, lies in the question of whether the thing that was in my heart when I wrote it might be in some way deposited into the reader's heart when they read it."

"...to be reminded of the earth's weird loveliness, but also see it as something that's quite robust. It's us who are in trouble -- the Earth will be fine. It's not the Earth we need to save, it's ourselves and all the other creatures on it."

| 26 min

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03661-2

WRITER FUEL: Even three days in space is enough to alter an astronaut's biology, according to a new set of studies that offers the most comprehensive look at spaceflight health since NASA's Twins Study.

https://www.limfic.com/2024/10/07/writer-fuel-even-short-stays-in-space-can-alter-human-biology/

Stuck NASA astronauts welcome SpaceX capsule that’ll bring them home next year.

AP reports: "SpaceX launched the rescue mission on Saturday with a downsized crew of two astronauts and two empty seats reserved for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who will return next year. The Dragon capsule docked in darkness as the two craft soared 265 miles (426 kilometers) above Botswana."

https://flip.it/zxKO.D

For similar stories, follow @space-ScienceAlert

WRITER FUEL: Traveling to Mars will require living in close quarters for more than two years. Here's how astronauts can deal with the stress of those conditions.

https://www.limfic.com/2024/03/20/writer-fuel-how-can-we-help-mars-bound-astronauts-deal-with-stress/

illustration of two astronauts on Mars, pointing at a domed artificial habitat - deposit photos
illustration of two astronauts on Mars, pointing at a domed artificial habitat - deposit photos
illustration of two astronauts on Mars, pointing at a domed artificial habitat - deposit photos