Christina Koch

What struck me wasn't necessarily just Earth.

It was all the blackness around it.

Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe.

Absolutely.

And I think we have a lot to thank our commander for because he set out that purpose from the beginning that our ultimate goal was to come back as best friends.

And it really set the tone for how we showed up for each other, how we handled our team cohesion intentionally.

We worked on it and I'm really happy with where we ended up.

Well, actually, it's funny because that's exactly what we enjoy the most.

We enjoy these small things, and there may be this perspective change.

At least for me, I experience it, say, when I'm walking on the beach and I look up at the blue sky and I imagine what it looks like looking down at Earth and the beautiful bright blue that is the sky from the other direction.

And I can picture that and I can picture the planet that I'm on on this universal scale.

But

it just teaches you to just savor those small moments.

Because when you're that far away, that's the only thing that matters.

Because you're looking at a planet where every single person you love is.

Every misstep, every success, every single cup of coffee is there.

And those things are what truly matters.

They're what bring meaning to a huge, giant universe.

And there's also something special about knowing that there's no way we are the ultimate four best people for this mission.

And we have to accept that and recognize that bringing our best to the table is all we can do.