colchrishadfield:

With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here’s Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World.

Huge thanks in the making of the video to the talented trio of Emm Gryner, Joe Corcoran and Andrew Tidby, plus Evan Hadfield and all at the CSA.

From the Chris Hadfield article at Wikipedia:

On May 12, 2013, after handing over command of the ISS before returning home, he released a music video recorded on the ISS with a modified version of Space Oddity by David Bowie.

I’ve written elsewhere why I think it’s worth having people travel to space, what a precious gift it is to have someone willing to incur those risks in order to share that perspective with the rest of us. Chris Hadfield’s time on the ISS has exemplified that in ways I couldn’t have imagined, and this video raises the bar even higher.

I’m proud to be a member of a species that did this. I’m proud of Chris Hadfield. I wish him a safe journey home.

Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/50292868597.

colchrishadfield:

The full moon rises over the only planet we have ever called home.

The image above will make most people think of Earthrise, the photo astronaut William Anders took during the Apollo 8 mission. But it reminds me even more of this one:

STS107-E-05697 (26 January 2003) —- A quarter moon is visible in this oblique view of Earth’s horizon and airglow, recorded with a digital still camera aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.

Most of the data collected during Columbia’s final mission was destroyed when the craft broke up over Texas during re-entry, but a number of photos, including the one above, had already been downloaded.

I wrote about those images here. Another image I really liked from that set was this one:

STS107-E-05688 (26 January 2003) —- Ilan Ramon, STS-107 payload specialist, looks at Earth’s horizon through a window of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Ramon represents the Israeli Space Agency.

There’s no way to sugar-coat it: Space is a fucking dangerous place for human beings. It just is. That there are people willing to go there anyway, and send back images so those of us safe on Earth can get an idea of what it’s like, makes me proud of my species.

colchrishadfield is a Tumblr hero for real.

Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/43532950787.