The Room with a View

November 20, 1998 

Launch of International Space Station (ISS)

This Journal Belongs to

Travis Binkley

Gifted to him by his lovely wife... Stay safe. I love you. Can't wait to hear your stories when you've come back to me. - E.B.



Entry One  

November 21, 2000

Words have easily captured the beauty of love, the suffering of longing and every other human condition in between; but this. This is something words can’t capture. There aren’t enough ways to properly form the words to express the marvel of this sight. 

Can you imagine the Earth from outer space? Like, real Earth and space. Home. Imagine sitting in the space station’s observatory, the cupola. Italian for dome, it pokes out from the main structure and has seven thick windows. Six side windows and one large window in the center. You’re surrounded by control panels but that’s not what keeps your attention, at first.

Below the windows of the cupola, the electrifying blue of our home is striking. Like a bright floating oasis in the middle of vast darkness. In this moment, is everything. All at once. All at once, I feel connected to Earth. To all that live within it, and I realize how small we are in the grand scheme of things. (But, not small enough that we can't make a difference.) 

Man I should get to sleep, I have maintenance checks tomorrow. 

Entry Two 

November 23, 2000

I’ve been up for hours, maybe I’m worried this is all a dream. It’s so hard to explain it all. The view, the feeling… This clarity that’s transformed my own views. The words all fit, marvelous… Magical… Unity. But they also don’t feel like enough. I want to give this feeling a name, but to name it feels like limiting it. And it feels like there isn’t a limit to this awe and beauty. It’s a true feeling of respect that’s mixed with fear for how small, in body terms, that we are. How we aren’t invincible. But there’s also a feeling of wonder… That I get to be here and experience all of this. I get to meet people. People with their own thoughts and emotions. Their own reasons for why they do the things they do. I get to wake up everyday in the morning and make my mark on the day. Now, I’ve been given the great privilege to experience my home in all its splendor... 

Sometimes its brilliance reminds me of a shiny marble, the ones with smokey designs in them. I used to think of mine like small galaxies in the palm of my hand when I was a kid. Home was like a much (much much) bigger marble of course, holding us inside of it. There’s something special about that. Something not to be taken for granted. 

Entry Three  

November 25, 2000

The Earth is covered in it’s blanket of white clouds and almost seems like it’s sleeping. But still wholly alive, yeah. It’s as if it can breathe... You know I almost wrote down the time for this entry but, time has no consequence up here; it’s just a silly human construct we created to measure the mundane...  

Once your eyes adjust, you can see the stars and the milky way. And more importantly, you can see a paper thin gas layer that protects home from space dangers. A simple thin, translucent layer of protection keeps our home intact from the outside. The meteors and debris. But... What are we doing on the inside? 

On that note you can also see our impact on the land, the clear-cutting of forests and erosion. Scars we’ve placed upon the land. Patches of green and vibrant blue. Along with patches of gray, like concrete and city tops. And even with all the years of burden we’ve thrown upon it, it… It’s still vibrant and beautiful after the abuse. Still alive. It really is surreal… So unbelievable to see home like this. 

Entry Four  

November 28, 2000

The sight is one you may grow used to, but never tire of. We’ve worked so hard to get to this moment. We wanted to see the stars and the moon, overlooking the very root of ourselves. Earth, home. We’ve come a long way. Buzz Aldrin, my childhood hero, the second man to walk on the moon during Apollo 11 (I mean… 1969, that’s 31 years ago) said in an interview that, “Earth was four times the size of a full moon seen from Earth. It was a brilliant jewel in the black velvet sky.” And how right he was, but the words and the images they invoke could never do it proper justice. I’m lucky to even be writing this with experience right now. Really lucky. You can read all about it but, there are just some things you cannot capture. Not with words or pictures. This is definitely one of them. It’s a pleasure only the eye can see and absorb, and truly appreciate. Our world is beautiful and we are so lucky to have it...

Entry Five  

November 29, 2000

Though it’s even more spectacular at night, like now. When the cities come alive and light the Earth. Like in Cairo, golden city lights bathe the region and the Nile Delta. A special kind of quiet settles too, at least for me. It’s not unsettling though, but dense with wonder and peace. I like sitting back at this time, the guys are either asleep or working somewhere else. There’s 3 total, including me. I get some free time to enjoy this view. I’ve been thinking about home lately though. I miss my wife, and her loud laughter. So full of life. She’s fascinated by space, I’ve been writing these entries for her for when I go back. Hopefully it’ll do some justice. It really is surreal to see all of home, while knowing life is happening all around it... We’re not so different from each other, the same desires and will run through our veins. Though we may act on them in different ways... I wish we could be better, united... I think we get the concept of how many people there are all over the world and the fact sinks in, but it doesn’t hit you until you actually see it… Yeah, it’ll be nice to talk with Emily when we get back. She’s so witty and challenging, but open minded and engaged. 

Man, what a privilege to see such beauty...