venture to the unknown
I’ve always loved the idea of being in outer space,
so when my chance came
to be a part of a crew
to explore a foreign land
to do what no man has done before
I
I jumped at the chance
People ask me what it’s like to be in space, see a new planet.
it’s hard to explain all of the details,
there are so many you forget,
like when you see the sun in the sky,
you even see Earth in the distance,
it is still dark where you are.
the Earth’s atmosphere makes the sun’s light omnidirectional
but here the sky is black too, even during daylight.
Without the Earth’s atmosphere
the stars are always out,
there are so many stars in the sky,
so many asteroids,
you can even see the dust in the air.
The Earth’s atmosphere is insulation
that stops us from seeing all in the universe.
They create gravity in parts of the space stations
to help people acclimate themselves
but in some stations you have to always hold your equipment
because it can float away
and when we go for mission walks
every step disturbs the land
dust and dirt explodes with every motion
it’s a fragile, delicate balance we try to strike
when we venture out into the unknown
Copyright Janet Kuypers.
All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.
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