Three days ago, the space capsule carrying Marcus Wandt crashed into the ocean off the coast of Florida after 17 days on the International Space Station (ISS).
Now he is in a facility for astronauts in Cologne, where he is continuously examined. After carrying out 30 experiments in space, he is now under scrutiny.
– The research continues and now I am the object, he says and laughs.
“Far above expectations”
He describes the time in space as “absolutely amazing and very different”. After launch, with the incredible acceleration that carried him out of the Earth’s atmosphere, it was quickly settled into the work team on the ISS.
– I felt that I found a good “flow”. After all, we managed to get through more than 100 percent of the assignments we aimed for, which was far beyond expectations and incredibly fun. The feeling of being there and representing Sweden, showing that Sweden is still a leading innovation country, is incredibly fun.
But 17 days in weightlessness reminds us down on earth.
– You wake up in the morning and have to get up and feel: “What’s wrong? Yes, exactly that – I’m heavy. I’m really heavy”. Only now is it starting to disappear.
Shrinks again
The special circumstances lead to lost weight and muscle mass. Also, he’s probably grown a bit, which is common for astronauts to do.
– I guess I’m shrinking again, he notes.
Simple things, like throwing something in the bin, were difficult. Gravitational force has not been a factor in space – everything is thrown in a straight path there. Here, thrown objects fall to the ground as you know.
– It’s quite easy to misjudge, gravity is stronger than you think.
Made a strong impression
During his time in space, he was given time several times to do something he had hoped for, to see a complete revolution of the Earth from the vantage point of the ISS, the “cupola”. Seeing our planet without human-constructed borders made an unexpectedly strong impression.
– The first few times it felt the most unreal. But after a few days, something emotional happened as soon as you dived down there and saw the earth, space, the thin atmosphere… how quickly you cross a continent.
Wandt sounds taken when he talks about seeing the sunset from space, about how the light makes a glowing dome seem to surround the earth, about the power of thunderstorms around the equator and how fast one revolution of the earth went.
– Then you see the sunrise. And it was just sunset. It gets very, very strong. All the disputes that exist down on earth feel so unnecessary. Incredibly unnecessary.