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shotsfired3841 t1_j62khkh wrote

I share this from time to time when I think people might find it interesting. I had a relative on Columbia, Dave Brown. The day before the tragedy he sent an email to friend and family that I'll share:

Friends,

It's hard to believe but I'm coming up on 16 days in space and we land tomorrow.

I can tell you a few things:

Floating is great - at two weeks it really started to become natural. I move much more slowly as there really isn't a hurry. If you go to fast then stopping can be quite awkward. At first, we were still handing each other things, but now we pass them with just a little push.

We lose stuff all the time. I'm kind of prone to this on Earth, but it's much worse here as I can now put things on the walls and ceiling too. It's hard to remember that you have to look everywhere when you lose something, not just down.

The views of the Earth are really beautiful. If you've ever seen a space Imax movie that's really what it looks like. What really amazes me is to see large geographic features with my own eyes. Today, I saw all of Northern Libya, the Sinai Peninsula, the whole country of Israel, and then the Red Sea. I wish I'd had more time just to sit and look out the window with a map but our science program kept us very busy in the lab most of the time.

The science has been great and we've accomplished a lot. I could write more but about it but that would take hours.

My crewmates are like my family - it will be hard to leave them after being so close for 2 1/2 years.

My most moving moment was reading a letter Ilan brought from a Holocaust survivor talking about his seven year old daughter who did not survive. I was stunned such a beautiful planet could harbor such bad things. It makes me want to enjoy every bit of the Earth for how great it really is.

I will make one more observation - if I'd been born in space I know I would desire to visit the beautiful Earth more than I've ever yearned to visit to space. It is a wonderful planet.

Dave

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Tritiac t1_j62u7d1 wrote

> I will make one more observation - if I'd been born in space I know I would desire to visit the beautiful Earth more than I've ever yearned to visit to space. It is a wonderful planet.

This is something that I think too many of us get lost in because Earth is all we will ever know--there will never be a more perfect place for us. It isn't out there far away in space, it's right here.

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Anderopolis t1_j62x23n wrote

See it like growing up, as a Kid we are unseprable from our mom, but as we grow it we move on.

We still love our mom, and we will visits, and make phone calls, but one day, without really noticing, 'Home' becomes where we are, not where we came from.

Earth will always be special to us, but that does not mean we can't or shouldn't grow beyond her.

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chaotic----neutral t1_j63bzrh wrote

Well, no. What they're saying is the exact opposite of that. Once we lose this place, we will yearn for it. It will forever be the only place we truly call home; our cradle. We're in the process of changing it irreversibly. The greatest tragedy of human existence is never knowing, and appreciating, what we have until it is gone.

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ggabitron t1_j62w9cc wrote

Wow, thanks for sharing. It’s both heartbreaking and heartwarming to read his perspective, so inspired and hopeful thinking about returning to earth, knowing what happened.

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TiredofFatigue96 t1_j64jjir wrote

Dammit, now I'm crying on my lunch break.

That's beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

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Jdubshack t1_j64m3zh wrote

That last line was very simple but so moving. Thanks for sharing.

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