Perspective (278)
Whenever you need to step back from life, the universe and everything, watch Earth Views, live from ISS.
Whenever you need to step back from life, the universe and everything, watch Earth Views, live from ISS.
Last night I tuned into the live stream of NASA to see the first launch of Space X that includes humans on board. I felt a bit uncomfortable watching it. It took me a while to figure out why, but then I realised that the last time I watched humans being sent into space was in 1986, when the Challenger exploded. I was seven and watching TV in someone else’s home. It was not real-time coverage like it was yesterday, but with a short delay the images of an exploding spacecraft were broadcasted on Dutch TV and I saw it happening in the midst of adults breathing in and falling silent. Since that day I can’t recall ever having watched a launch live. Not even when the Dutch astronaut Kuipers was sent to the ISS in 2004. That explains why I felt uncomfortable. I asked myself the question whether I wanted to witness a disaster real-time. But of course all went smooth. Just like the launch of all the other astronauts that visited ISS over the years.