Letters to Earth: Astronaut Don Pettit

exploration
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What Makes a Mission Name? May 17, 2012 09:26:13 PM | Don Pettit
 
What space station crews call our "mission" is a bit more complicated than what you might think.
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Space Is My Mistress Apr 03, 2012 05:44:24 PM | Don Pettit
 
Seeing as how April is National Poetry Month…
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Blood and Treasure Mar 23, 2012 06:18:58 PM | Don Pettit
 
Gold, silk, and spices were the tangible treasures from past explorations. Today, the frontier of space offers treasures that are golden but not gold—secrets about the biochemistry of life, drawn from the bodies of astronauts.
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Perpetual Twilight Jan 20, 2012 10:50:47 AM | Don Pettit
 
Twice a year, near the winter and summer solstices, the orbit of space station nearly parallels the terminator—the fuzzy line separating day from night on the surface below. For a period of about a week, we live in what seems like perpetual twilight, being in neither full daylight nor full night. Our orbit follows the terminator, so that space station is constantly sunlit. From this vantage I can see both day and night simply by swiveling my head from left to right.
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Grand Views of the Grand Canyon Jan 19, 2012 11:50:32 AM | Don Pettit
 
The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River is simply amazing when viewed from an orbital perspective.
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Gone for the Season Jan 09, 2012 12:05:00 PM | Don Pettit
 
Being absent for the holidays is collateral damage for an explorer, whatever the location.
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What Makes an Explorer? Dec 22, 2011 12:02:34 PM | Don Pettit
 
There is a type of social deviate who doesn’t fit in, and who naturally seeks the freedom of the wilderness. The American frontier was settled by that kind of spirit. Ironically, the wilderness of space requires a high degree of social conformity before you are allowed to enter, so today’s pre-selection of candidate explorers effectively requires a different personality type from those who historically ventured into the frontier.
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