When there are nine people aboard the International Space Station, it’s a bit of a full house.
It’s been a solid, busy week since Andy, Sergei and Aidyn joined the rest of us. It’s not every day you get to work with such a unique crew comprised of good people from five different countries: Russia, USA, Denmark, Japan and Kazakhstan.
At the end of the day, the dinner table acts as a unifier, a place of community. Sharing a meal gives us a chance to put aside work and catch up with one another. While nutrition is important to us physically – maintaining our health and mitigating the negative effects of microgravity on our bodies – mealtime also is important to us psychologically.
Dining together can radically shift perspectives, blurring boundaries just as looking down on Earth from our vantage point, especially, when dinner partners are from all different corners of the world. But also mealtime lets us build a sense of camaraderie.
Andy, Aidyn and Gennady – whom I launched to the International Space Station with nearly six months ago – will begin their journey home today. I will miss those guys. They are good friends to break bread with.
Eat simply, and eat together.
