Saturday, February 16, 2008

Astronaut Dreams

From an AP news story on Yahoo comes this quote from space station astronaut Dan Tani, who has been living aboard the ISS since October 2007 and will soon be returning home on Atlantis with the STS-122 crew:

"I look forward to some odd things," Tani said. "I'm looking forward to putting food on a plate and eating several things at once, which you can't do up here. I'm looking forward to spitting my toothpaste out in a sink rather than swallowing it."

So while Earthbound space fans like me dream of being able to experience zero-G and of seeing the Earth from space, Tani's current dreams are more down to Earth. It's all about perspective, though Tani also appreciates that he has been pretty lucky:

"I love living here on the station. It's comfortable. It's fun. It's exciting. The view, of course," said Tani, a 47-year-old mechanical engineer and the father of two young daughters. "But obviously, I want to get back and see my family."

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