Relocation time

Last night of the midnight shift...for now, at least. My body can tell it's the last shift because it's on the verge of shutting down. The human body is just not meant to be awake at these hours and every time I work this shift I experience the consequences. Fortunately, I have it lucky. There are other flight controllers who work this shift 7 days straight, with two of those days being 12 hour shifts. I'll take five days over 7 anytime...

Tonight was special, though, because I got to witness a Soyuz relocate. I know that means very little to most people who read this and about as exciting as a mouse fart so I won't bore you with details. The Russian capsule that the crew members have been using to get to the space station is docked to a certain location on the ISS space station. For reasons not worth mentioning, it was moved to another location on the station. The reason why this is such a critical activity is because the crew has to get all suited up within the Soyuz in case something goes wrong, the Soyuz can't redock, and they have to come home. But that's not why I bring it up.

As you can imagine, there are multiple cameras on the outside surface of the space station, some of which were able to capture this relocate. In a word: breathtaking. The redocking took place as the space station was making it's way over the Sahara Desert and was complete somewhere over the western edge of the Mediterranian Sea. It's not the kind of view most people get to see everyday. Or anyday. The brown of the sand juxtaposed with the deep blue of the sea is an amazing site and really makes me appreciate the diversity of our planet. How can a land so dry border the ocean? Simply incredible.

Happy thought of the day: Getting off of work, hopping on a plane, and flying to New York for Thanksgiving

Song quote of the day: "The best thing about New York City is you and me."