The idea of spending time in space is exciting, but people often overlook how much they'd miss Earth once they’re away. On March 1, 2016, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko returned to Earth after completing one of the most ambitious missions in the history of the International Space Station (ISS). For an entire year, Mikhail and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly lived aboard the ISS, orbiting Earth more than 5,000 times. Although they kept daily journals to track their mental health, they still missed simple pleasures like showering, walking, sleeping in a normal bed, and feeling the wind on their faces.
Image Source: Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos is carried into a medical tent after he and Expedition 46. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)
They spent their days performing spacewalks, conducting research, and completing over 400 experiments. However, they had to drink water that was recycled from urine and sweat. In an October 2016 interview with National Geographic, Mikhail opened up about some of the things he deeply missed during his year in space. The main goal of NASA's "One-Year Mission" was to study how the human body reacts and adapts to long-term spaceflight. This knowledge will help prepare for future missions, like the potential 500-day journey to Mars.
“This is not a business trip to another city. When you miss your apartment, your home, your family; this is about missing the Earth as a whole,” Mikhail said in the National Geographic interview. “It is a completely different emotion. Therefore, when planning missions like the one to Mars, psychologists have to consider the point, that people will miss the Earth. This is more than nostalgia.”
Image Source: One year mission crew members Scott Kelly of NASA (left) and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos (right) celebrated 300th consecutive day in space. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)
Scott and Mikhail began their mission with a liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 27, 2015. Footage in the National Geographic video shows them being carefully carried out of the opened hatch by rescue team members. Living without gravity for this long impacts the human body in profound ways. Microgravity takes a huge toll on the balance of their bodies and spatial orientation, making it difficult for them to re-adjust to Earth’s gravity. “You could trip, fall, hurt yourself. That’s why the rescue guys never allow you to walk at first. They pick you up and carry you,” Mikhail said. The footage says that if astronauts were supposed to land on Mars in this mission, then they would have experienced an even more extreme version of these effects. Mikhail said their mission was preliminary training for longer missions that may happen in the future.
Image Source: Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko attends to a press conference with US astronaut Scott Kelly at the UNESCO on December 18, 2014 in Paris, France. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)
After he and Scott returned to Earth, they underwent a variety of tests. In space, bones deteriorate faster, lungs and other organs weaken, and vision becomes impaired. The Atlantic explains that the moment astronauts enter the field of weightlessness, their inner ear immediately gets disrupted, which triggers symptoms like motion sickness and loss of balance.
“It’s hard, but I liked it because this is headed towards the future, and strictly speaking, reflects the work of the cosmonauts,” said Mikhail. “If we don’t destroy ourselves, the expansion into near space and then deep space will be inevitable. This is at the core of humanity.” Mikhail added that, physically, it is still possible, to get used to things, like being without a shower, but psychologically, it is much harder, because “being enclosed for a long time creates rather stressful conditions.”
Image Source: Expedition 43 Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka of Roscosmos and NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly. (Photo by /Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)
He recalled witnessing some of the most stunning views from the ISS—green-red auroras, sparkling city lights, and the ocean’s atolls in breathtaking shades of turquoise, lilac, and blue. But even with this otherworldly experience, he felt something was missing. It was not his home. “There is a shortage of greenery, for real, like not enough forest, summer, winter, snow; everything that has to do with Earth,” Mikhail said.
Once during his stay in the ISS, Mikhail missed Earth so much that he asked the psychologists to send something with the spaceship that visited them to supply the stock of essentials. He asked them to send pictures of Earth with views of nature. “I hung all of this around the module, so the flights would be more joyful. You grab onto it with your gaze, look at that little birch tree, and things get easier.”
Image Source: YouTube | @dudotskiiiiii
Touched by Mikhail’s insights, thousands of people reacted to the video with emotional comments. @albertsamuel8188 said they felt teary after his video. @joshclint2259 commented, “He's basically saying. ‘There's nothing in this universe that could be as beautiful as Earth’” @casanova2829 added, “They should make a "green room" on a space station, full of Earth's plants where an astronaut could chill and relax when time allows.”
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Why do some folks use social media but don't engage?
Psychologist says people who never comment on social media share these 5 positive traits
For over 20 years, social media has developed into a staple in many people’s day-to-day lives. Whether it’s to keep in communication with friends and family, following the thoughts of celebrities, or watching cat videos while sipping your morning coffee, there seem to be two types of social media users: commenters and lurkers.
The term “lurker” sounds equally mysterious and insidious, with some social media users writing them off as non-participants at best or voyeurs at worst. However, mindfulness expert Lachlan Brown believes these non-commenters have some very psychologically positive and healthy traits. Let’s take a look at how each one of these traits could be beneficial and see how fruitful lurking might be even though it can drive content creators crazy.
1. Cautious about vulnerability
Consciously or not, making a post online or commenting on one puts you and your words out there. It’s a statement that everyone can see, even if it’s as simple as clicking “like.” Doing so opens yourself up to judgment, with all the good, bad, and potential misinterpretation that comes with it. Non-commenters would rather not open themselves up to that.
These silent users are connected to a concept of self-protection by simply not engaging. By just scrolling past posts or just reading/watching them without commentary, they’re preventing themselves from any downsides of sharing an opinion such as rejection, misunderstanding, or embarrassment. They also have more control on how much of themselves they’re willing to reveal to the general public, and tend to be more open face-to-face or during one-on-one/one-on-few private chats or DMs. This can be seen as a healthy boundary and prevents unnecessary exposure.
Considering many comment sections, especially involving political topics, are meant to stir negative emotional responses to increase engagement, being extra mindful about where, when, and what you comment might not be a bad idea. They might not even take the engagement bait at all. Or if they see a friend of theirs post something vulnerable, they feel more motivated to engage with them personally one-on-one rather than use social media to publicly check in on them.
2. Analytical and reflective mindset
How many times have you gone onto Reddit, YouTube, or any other site and just skimmed past comments that are just different versions of “yes, and,” “no, but,” or “yes, but”? Or the ever insightful, formerly popular comment “First!” in a thread? These silent browsers lean against adding to such noise unless they have some valid and thoughtful contribution (if they bother to comment period).
These non-posters are likely wired on reflective thinking rather than their initial intuition. Not to say that all those who comment aren’t thoughtful, but many tend to react quickly and comment based on their initial feelings rather than absorbing the information, thinking it over, researching or testing their belief, and then posting it. For "lurkers," it could by their very nature to just do all of that and not post it at all, or share their thoughts and findings privately with a friend. All in all, it’s a preference of substance over speed.
3. High sense of self-awareness
Carried over from the first two listed traits, these silent social media users incorporate their concern over their vulnerability and their reflective mindset into digital self-awareness. They know what triggers responses out of them and what causes them to engage in impulsive behavior. It could be that they have engaged with a troll in the past and felt foolish. Or that they just felt sad after a post or got into an unnecessary argument that impacted them offline. By knowing themselves and seeing what’s being discussed, they choose to weigh their words carefully or just not participate at all. It’s a form of self-preservation through restraint.
4. Prefer to observe rather than perform
Some folks treat social media as information, entertainment, or a mix of both, and commenting can feel like they’re yelling at the TV, clapping alone in a movie theater when the credits roll, or yelling “That’s not true!” to a news anchor that will never hear them. But contrary to that, social media is a place where those yells, claps, and accusations can be seen and get a response. By its design, social media is considered by experts and the media as performative, regardless of whether it is positive or negative. Taking all of the previously mentioned traits into account, one can see why they would prefer to “observe the play” rather than get up on the stage of Facebook or X.
On top of that, these non-commenters could be using social media differently than those who choose to fully engage with it. Using this type of navigation, there may be nothing for them to comment about. Some commenters are even vying for this for their mental health. There are articles about how to better curate your social media feeds and manipulate algorithms to create a better social media experience to avoid unnecessary conflict or mentally tiring debate.
If you go on a blocking spree on all of your accounts and just follow the posters that boost you, it could turn your social media into a nice part of your routine as you mainly engage with others face-to-face or privately. In terms of commenting, if your curated Instagram is just following cute dogs and all you have to offer for a comment is “cute dog,” you might just enjoy the picture and then move on with your day rather than join in the noise. These non-commenters aren’t in the show and they’re fine with it.
5. Less motivated by social validation
The last trait that Brown showcases is that social media users who browse without posting tend to be independent from external validation, at least online. Social media is built to grow through feedback loops such as awarding likes, shares, and reposts of your content along with notifications letting you know that a new person follows you or wants to connect. This can lead many people to connect their activity on social media with their sense of self worth, especially with adolescents who are still figuring out their place in the world and have still-developing brains.
Engaging in social media via likes, shares, comments, and posts rewards our brains by having them release dopamine, which makes us feel good and can easily become addictive. For whatever reason, non-commenters don’t rely on social media as a means to gauge their social capital or self worth. This doesn’t make them better than those who do. While some non-commenters could have healthier ways to boost their self worth or release dopamine into their systems, many get that validation from equally unhealthy sources offline. That said, many non-commenters’ silence could be a display of independence and self confidence.
Whether you frequently comment online or don’t, it’s good to understand why you do or don’t. Analyzing your habits can help you determine whether your online engagement is healthy, or needs to be tweaked. With that information, you can then create a healthy social media experience that works for you.