What is the most unexpected thing you experienced in space ?   I wasn't quite prepared for the view of the Earth as we left . It was just awe-inspiring . It emerged from just a slightly curved horizon to a whole Earth , where you could look across oceans and continents in a single glance . I wasn't quite prepared for that . It's inevitably etched in my memory .   When viewing the Earth from space , do you feel detached from humanity or more a part of the totality of humankind ?   Detached . You're literally detached from one planet , captured by another . Your only link to reality is the Earth out there ; fortunate - 1y , it stays in view the whole time .   There're a lot of suspicions that the International Space Station is never going to become reality . Is it going to be some future project that never happens ?   I believe it's certainly for real . It without question has suffered a lot of delays . But there's hardware sitting on the pad right now and it's due to go off in December . It is a reality . It has just taken longer to get literally off the ground . 