Live From The International Space Station

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC, and listeners, in under a minute, we will begin a very special interview with two of the astronauts who were onboard the International Space Station right now. They are physicist Shannon Walker and engineer, Victor Glover, a US Navy commander. Shannon spent a few months on the Station back in 2010, but this is Victor's first time in outer space. He's also the first Black person to stay on the International Space Station for more than a few days. So, we'll talk to him about that. Connecting to guests in space isn't exactly rocket science, but we can't just get them up on the phone like we do with most guests. I think we're about to hear--

Mission Control: Station, this is Houston. Are you ready for the event? Houston station, we are ready for the event.

Brian: We are ready here in New York.

Mission Control: WNYC, this is Mission Control Houston, please call station for a voice check.

Brian: This is Brian Lehrer at WNYC. Does this satisfy your voice check?

Shannon Walker: We have you loud and clear aboard the station. Welcome aboard.

Brian: Thank you so much for giving us a few minutes, Victor and Shannon. It is so nice to meet you this way and I believe, and correct me if I'm wrong, that you just had a sunset, meaning you've just sped around the earth away from the sun and moved into the earth's shadow. Can I ask what a sunset looks like from the Space Station?

Shannon: Sunsets are absolutely amazing from the Space Station. The depth of colors are much more than you can probably imagine. Although, if you go to where they sell TVs and turn up the brightness all the way and the color, you might have some idea of what it looks like. In fact, we probably did just have a sunset or a sunrise. We go around the earth once every 90 minutes, so we get 16 of those each every day.

Brian: Victor, did you see that planetary convergence from up there that we made such a big deal about as a rare event on earth last night, or does every night look like that from the Space Station?

Victor Glover: Every night up here is pretty beautiful, but we tried. We couldn't see it. We did ask for some help from Mission Control team down in Houston, and they gave us some ideas on how to look for it, but it turned out there was Space Station structure blocking our view, so we weren't able to see it, but hopefully lots of folks on the ground got good pictures and we'll get to see them soon.

Brian: Victor, I see this is your first time in space. Before we get into more of what it's like being there, can you tell us what it was like getting there? Your colleague, Mike Hopkins, told Mission Control on your second day in orbit that you hadn't stopped smiling. Were you cheery on the launch pad, too, and was there a moment after the launch when you knew you could just look around and enjoy it?

Victor: It was a very interesting combination of emotions because we had a job to do. I was very excited. My family was there and it was great to share this experience, great friends from high school and so it was a very important moment, but at the same time, I had to be focused and do my job for Shannon and Mike and Soichi. Once we got on orbit and we were safely in orbit, there were some moments where we had time to eat a meal. We actually had enough time to go to sleep. So, there was time. I took a video and was able to share that, and so we did have some moments to steal glimpses, but it was an amazing ride. The Falcon is an amazing rocket and Crew Dragon Resilience, yes, it was amazing.

Brian: Shannon, do you see the point of the International Space Station as satisfying human curiosity? Or, is it more about concrete, practical, scientific experiments?

Shannon: Yes, that's an excellent question. I think in many of these cases, there's no one definitive answer. I think, actually, it satisfies both. It satisfies human curiosity because we can talk about space. We can show pictures to people of what we see that many people on the ground will never get an opportunity to see, and then we are doing hard science up here, real science that have lots of benefits for humanity on earth, so it's both.

Brian: I see that one of the experiments is you want to see how microgravity affects the fermentation of grape juice. Does that mean you're making wine up there, Shannon?

Shannon: We haven't encountered that one yet and I'm not surprised something like that's up here. I hope we're making wine. Unfortunately, I don't think they'll let us taste it while we're up here. We'll probably have to wait until we get back.

Brian: Oh, that relates to one of the questions that a listener tweeted, Victor, which is, "Is there a happy hour in the ISS?" I think Shannon just gave us a negative answer to that, but the listener writes, "Shouldn't we know what it's like to tie one on in space."

Shannon: You know, it does sound like a lot of fun. The reason that we don't have happy hours up here is because you never know when something might actually go sideways, and so we always have to be prepared in a worst, worst case scenario to jump on our spacecraft and go home. So, we have to keep it pretty straight and narrow while we're up here.

Brian: Listener Michael asks-- Victor, I'll give this one to you, "Do astronauts still experience the flashes of light on the backs of their eyelids when they sleep?" Is that a thing?

Victor: I actually have seen those. I saw them more in the first few days or week that I was here. I haven't noticed them as much in these last few days, but I did see those quite a bit when we first got here, so probably some effect of radiation of some sort, but yes, interesting. It didn't keep me from falling asleep or anything, but it was noticeable.

Brian: Shannon, a listener tweets, "How can our space mission aid or fight against climate change?"

Shannon: I think one of the ways that we can fight against climate change is keep showing what we're doing to the planet, and we've got a unique vantage point up here to see what is happening to our earth below us, and to give people a sense of how tiny our atmosphere is and how much we need to protect it. I would say that's probably the most tangible way or the most visible way we can fight climate change.

There's so many ways to fight climate change, but this is one where we can actually show what's happening and we can do that a lot by taking pictures. We've got pictures from the Space Station going back 20 years. We can see the glaciers receding in the photography that we do. We can see the effects of lakes drying up and other things that are happening around the planet.

Brian: Victor, is there anything special for you that you could put into words, being the first Black person to serve long-term on the Space Station? It's an incredible achievement for anyone, of course, but have you felt extra pressure or pride as the first?

Victor: That's a good question. Definitely no extra pressure, and I would say that I would have been very happy if it had happened a long time ago, but I just hope that I give my best effort up here and get through this mission successfully and just put that in the past so that it's not a thing, so that we can go off and do other great things.

Brian: We have a minute left with our two guests live from the International Space Station, US astronauts, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker. Victor, real quick, is there a fantasy space mission that you would have in mind, like, after this one? Is there one you'd really like to do if it ever becomes possible?

Victor: Actually, landing safely from this mission is all the dream that I need, and this mission right now, this very moment, we are living a dream, and I'll be very happy to land safely and then we'll go from there. You'll have to ask me after we land safely.

Brian: Shannon, same question for you.

Shannon: I absolutely second that we need to land safely, but after that, if the Moon or Mars were in my future, I would definitely want to go.

Brian: Shannon Walker and Victor Glover are astronauts currently serving on the International Space Station. They are our first callers from space on the Brian Lehrer show and they called in from 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean as of right now. By 12:30, they'll be right above New York and we won't be able to see them in the daylight. That's how fast they're moving, half hour to go from the Pacific Ocean to over New York, but we'll be looking up at the sky and waving at you. Thank you so much for your time today.

Shannon: Thank you. Our pleasure.

Brian: Brian Lehrer on WNYC, on earth.

 

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