Ill-suited for life on Earth
Readjusting to life on earth is far from straightforward. The body adapts to a weightless environment, and thrusting it back under the pressure of gravity has some uncomfortable consequences. Michael Barratt discusses the practical problems of re-acclimatising.
Practical jokes with the President
Practical jokes and general mischief are a long-standing tradition of space flight. In this clip, Daniel Tani recalls a time when he and his crewmates played a game of hide and seek with ground control just moments before the President arrived.
Watch a shooting star
We see meteorites in the night sky, fleeting blazes of light as they fizzle out in our atmosphere. But what would they look like from above? Michael Barratt recalls seeing a meteorite hurtle towards earth from above, marvelling at a unique perspective on a beautiful event, and feeling a tense awareness of how vulnerable astronauts are, drifting unprotected in space.
How many astronauts does it take to change a lightbulb?
Simple tasks take on a whole new significance in space. Daniel Tani explains why changing a lightbulb only needs one astronaut, but takes two and half hours!
Seeing man from space
Looking down from the Mir space station, Helen Sharman couldn’t see any individual people. She could, however, see the tell-tale signs of our presence: the wake of a boat, the trail of an aeroplane, and the vast fires of the Gulf War.
Interviews conducted by Ed Prosser and Jon Farrow, illustrations by Andrew Khosravani.
Hear more from these interviews in our videos: Living in space and The view from space.