“As a kid, I was really mystified and obsessed with space and flying. So I used to watch any video, any show, anything I could about flying, launching to space, floating in space… everything. There was definitely something magical about seeing astronauts on spacewalks and working in the back of the shuttle. All those IMAX movies, I couldn’t get enough of them. But you know what’s funny about it? My whole life I knew I wanted to go to space, but it pales in comparison to how badly I want to go back having been there. It’s even worse now. The FOMO is so bad.
“That was the first thing I said to my doctors when I landed. She asked, ‘How are you feeling?’ And I said, ‘I want to get back in the line and go up again.’
“People look at the International Space Station and think, this is a marvel of what humans can achieve. Which is true, but also I look at it like… that’s the place I used to live. Almost like it’s my old college dorm, or my apartment. And I love that. It’s like a part of it is mine.”
— Astronaut Anne McClain
Image Credit: NASA / Aubrey Gemignani
Interviewer: NASA / Thalia Patrinos