Living on the International Space Station Isn't a Walk in the Park
The day this book came out, I got to see Commander Scott Kelly being interviewed by Neil deGrasse Tyson at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. It was an interesting interview, to say the least. Kelly is a man with a super dry sense of humor, which I quite enjoyed.
His memoir is a no-nonsense account of his year in space, interspersed with the story of his life. I'm unsurprised that this was a book written by someone in the military. Not to say that there isn't anything other than the direct recounting of the story—he gets animated when we talks about some of the really annoying issues he faces while in the ISS, or emotional when he talks about his daughters, for example.
Also, the super dry humor that I mentioned above also sneaks into the book. Blink and you'll miss it but it's certainly there. I thought it was pretty amazing that what you see in person is something that you find in the book. Often that kind of humor is hard to put to a page, in my opinion.
This book is billed as a memoir and it certainly is that. The story of the year Kelly spends in space is interspersed with the story of him growing up and his path to becoming an astronaut. But what I really enjoyed about it is how much I learned about what living on the International Space Station really means. You've probably heard it plenty of times, but it can never be overstressed: Living in space (station) means that you can never ignore the details, no matter how small. Indeed, the small details are the ones that could kill you. And there's so much we take for granted about living here on Earth, with gravity, so much we never think about, and you just can't live like that in space.
For example, maintaining the CO2 levels can be a Herculean task. If they go up just 1 or 2mm, it can change everything about everyone's mood, cause headaches, impair cognitive function, etc. There's a machine called the Seedra (CDRA: Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly) which is supposed to remove the CO2 but it constantly breaks down and needs to be fixed. And you can't call the neighborhood SEEDRA repairperson! It's up to the team on board to fix it.
These kinds of details really made the book interesting for me. Another fascinating aspect was the comparison to how the Russians do things. With the space shuttle program in retirement, all trips to and from the ISS are done through Russia's Soyuz vehicles. So at least in terms of the space program, we have a close relationship with Russians, and part of the crew on the ISS is made up of Russians. Kelly is friends with many of them and has spent time in Russia. He often describes the differences between how our 2 countries do things or how those relationships are maintained when things on the (literal) ground are more than rocky. When you're floating 240miles above the surface of the Earth with 5 other people, you have no choice but to get along because relying on each other is literally a matter of life or death.
I highly recommend this book.
His memoir is a no-nonsense account of his year in space, interspersed with the story of his life. I'm unsurprised that this was a book written by someone in the military. Not to say that there isn't anything other than the direct recounting of the story—he gets animated when we talks about some of the really annoying issues he faces while in the ISS, or emotional when he talks about his daughters, for example.
Also, the super dry humor that I mentioned above also sneaks into the book. Blink and you'll miss it but it's certainly there. I thought it was pretty amazing that what you see in person is something that you find in the book. Often that kind of humor is hard to put to a page, in my opinion.
This book is billed as a memoir and it certainly is that. The story of the year Kelly spends in space is interspersed with the story of him growing up and his path to becoming an astronaut. But what I really enjoyed about it is how much I learned about what living on the International Space Station really means. You've probably heard it plenty of times, but it can never be overstressed: Living in space (station) means that you can never ignore the details, no matter how small. Indeed, the small details are the ones that could kill you. And there's so much we take for granted about living here on Earth, with gravity, so much we never think about, and you just can't live like that in space.
For example, maintaining the CO2 levels can be a Herculean task. If they go up just 1 or 2mm, it can change everything about everyone's mood, cause headaches, impair cognitive function, etc. There's a machine called the Seedra (CDRA: Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly) which is supposed to remove the CO2 but it constantly breaks down and needs to be fixed. And you can't call the neighborhood SEEDRA repairperson! It's up to the team on board to fix it.
These kinds of details really made the book interesting for me. Another fascinating aspect was the comparison to how the Russians do things. With the space shuttle program in retirement, all trips to and from the ISS are done through Russia's Soyuz vehicles. So at least in terms of the space program, we have a close relationship with Russians, and part of the crew on the ISS is made up of Russians. Kelly is friends with many of them and has spent time in Russia. He often describes the differences between how our 2 countries do things or how those relationships are maintained when things on the (literal) ground are more than rocky. When you're floating 240miles above the surface of the Earth with 5 other people, you have no choice but to get along because relying on each other is literally a matter of life or death.
I highly recommend this book.