Space travel is a ixation
Retired astronaut Nicole Stott, who has
logged 104 days in space, says: “Going
into space is addictive and you can’t get
rid of the longing to go back. But what
you don’t know is the love for going into
space is already in you. But next time I’d
like to go back as a tourist and relax!”
Australia is amazing
For astronaut Chris Hadfield, seeing our
country from up high is mind-blowing.
“The beauty and ugliness varies,” says
Hadfield, a man who has clocked 166 days
in space during three Earth departures.
“LA, Beijing and Mexico City can look
ugly from space because there’s always
smog which looks like someone poured
crap on it. There’s beauty underneath it,
but it’s got a thick layer of grey smear.
Australia is a beautiful dusky pink colour,
unlike anywhere else.”
here’s wacky stu to be learnt
- even for those in the know
Despite a record-breaking 665 days spent
in space, astronaut Peggy Whitson admits
that she was surprised to learn some new
things while participating in the making
of this awe-inspiring production. What is
revealed will change the things we think
we know about the history of civilisation
and the elements that keep us alive.
“I saw Earth in a special way being in
space, but through One Strange Rock
I learnt I didn’t know as much as I thought
I should know!” she says. “Wacky stuf that
makes Earth what it is. You need to watch it
to see for yourself. I didn’t know that if Earth
had been tilted on its axis in a diferent way
we’d still have dinosaurs around.”
Whitson continues, “I also learnt that
oxygen is recycled back in our atmosphere
to allow us to breathe. It isn’t just about
getting oxygen from trees.”
How does David Bowie it in?
Hadfield recorded his own version of
hit song Space Oddity while aboard the
International Space Station as a tribute
to one of our most influential rock stars.
He says, “David Bowie wrote that song
in 1968, before we had even walked on
the moon. He guessed it would be lonely
and melancholy and limited and a bit sad,
but [for me] it’s the opposite of all four
of those things. It is magnificent, it’s rich,
it’s mind-opening and eye-opening. You
see the whole world in 90 minutes and
you see everywhere, all seven-and-a-half
billion people every day. You see every
story that has ever existed and you can
see every colour that exists.”
As former astronaut and engineer
Leland Melvin describes it: “From outer
space, sunrise goes from blackness of
night to full sun in 15 seconds. It’s a rapid
rainbow explosion of colour.”
“Australia is
a beautiful dusky
pink colour, unlike
anywhere else”
- Chris Hadeld
Peggy
WhitsonEarth’s majesty
is magnified
from spaceWORDS: MICHELE MANELIS. PHOTOS: iSTOCKPHOTO; NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICFoxtel APRIL 35