Space Journal


	Thursday, December 19 I'm finally here. It's taken three years of training and a lot of hard work, but I made it. The shuttle docked at the space station at 0900 hours. We started to unload the equipment and supplies. Trying to work while you're floating around sure is strange – it takes about a week to get used to being in zero gravity. The view of Earth passing below us is breathtaking. I've been talking to the crew members who are returning to Earth. They're excited about going home to their families and friends.

I'd love to shoot some hoops with my kids.

Tuesday, December 24

We began a new experiment today. Dimitri and I are trying to grow rice in zero gravity. I also did some work on the robotic arm, which wasn’t working correctly when we were unloading the shuttle on Thursday

It’s Christmas day tomorrow, and we’re planning a special dinner. We’re having chicken and vegetables, and there’s cheesecake for dessert. It’ll be weird eating Christmas dinner as we travel through space at 17,000 miles an hour! We’ve set up a video link that will start at 1600 hours. It will be great to talk to Jake and the kids.

Friday, January 24

It’s hard to believe I’ve been on board the space station for five weeks. In that time, we’ve orbited Earth over five hundred and sixty times! I’ve just about finished reading all my books. I’ve played my CDs so many times that I’m sick of them. Luckily, Yuri has let me borrow some of his.

I took some photos of Florida. Florida from space From way up here, it’s hard to imagine my family moving around down there. They’ll be hiking in the mountains tomorrow. We can’t hike up here, but I’ve been spending a lot of time on the treadmill. I’ve discovered that lifting weights doesn’t work in space (ha, ha!).

Saturday, March 1

This is my last week! It’s been an amazing experience living here and getting to know the other astronauts. We’ve worked hard, but we’ve had a great time too. The biggest challenge has been living in such a small space. Sometimes I’ve wanted to scream. Even trying to stay clean is hard work. I’ll never complain about the size of our bathroom at home again.