- NASA Jessica Meir will return to Earth this week after a long stay on the International Space Station.
- To be a member of the ISS crew is already to live in a kind of isolation, but Meir says that she thinks that she will feel even more isolated when she returns to Earth, due to the pandemic. of coronavirus.
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For astronauts living on the International Space Station, the coronavirus pandemic it’s like a wild horror film that takes place under their feet. They can rest easy knowing that the virus is not present on board the space station, but being so far from family and friends could have negative consequences for anyone, especially when a global health crisis takes place.
For NASA’s Jessica Meir, who will return to Earth this week after her initial arrival on the way to the ISS in September of last year, the adjustment will be unlike anything NASA astronauts have experienced before. She will return to a country in the midst of an unprecedented lockdown, with directives of social distancing radically changing daily life.
“It is quite surreal for us to see this happening on the planet below,” Meir said at a recent remote press conference aboard the space station. “We can tell you that the Earth is still as beautiful as ever from here, so it’s hard to believe all the changes that have happened. “
Indeed, the return of astronauts to Earth at this time will be different from what it has been in the past. Rather than celebrating the end of a successful space mission, scientists will have to accept congratulations by phone or video chat. For Meir, there is a simple thing, she said that she was going to miss more than anything, returning to solid ground: hugs.
“I think it will always be nice for me to go back and see familiar places and faces,” says Meir. “It will certainly be very difficult not to be able to cuddle my family and friends. It’s something, after staying here for seven months, and being the type of person I am, it will be difficult for me to do, but I know it will be part of the game for a while. ”
It’s crazy to think, but the astronauts on board the space station currently have more freedom of interaction with each other than we do here on Earth. They’re cut off from the rest of us, but their small family of space stations may still be in tight quarters without worrying about spreading a life-threatening disease.
“I think I will feel more isolated on Earth than I did here because it is part of our expected routine here, and we are so busy with so many other incredible activities and we have this incredible view of Earth below which we don’t really feel this isolation as much. “
Image source: NASA / YouTube
