I believe in exploration, and I will miss being on the front lines of that endeavor. On one hand, I look forward to going home, but it's something that's been a big part of my life, and I'm going to miss it.
It's for us to take care of the air we breathe and the water we drink. And I do believe we have an impact on that, and we do have the ability to change it if we make the decision to.
As far as whether there is life there on Mars or whether there was actually ever life there, I don't know. It would be great to find out, though.
On this flight, my fourth spaceflight, I also became the record holder for total days in space and single longest mission.
Something people don't recognize is that being on the space station is probably a lot like being in some kind of confinement - like isolation.
This is a really big space station. We do a lot of various kinds of work here, different kinds of science experiments; we have over 400 different experiments going on at any one time in different areas, from basic science research to medical technology, that hopefully will benefit more people on Earth.
Leaving the space station was bittersweet - I had been there for a long time and looked forward to leaving, but it is a remarkable place.
If you go on a journey to Mars and get into deep space, there is several hundred times, maybe 300 times the radiation.
I believe in the importance of flying in space and the research that we do.
I think a good life-work balance is important, and that's even more important in some cases on the space station.
The workouts have positively impacted the astronauts' bones and muscles, and they are coming back in really good shape. But some are losing bone and muscle but not as much as we saw in the early days.
Sleeping here is harder here in space than on a bed because the sleep position here is the same position throughout the day. You don't ever get that sense of gratifying relaxation here that you do on Earth after a long day at work.
I personally think going to Mars, if it takes two years or two and a half years, that's doable. Certainly, the first people who go there, that's going to be a big motivator, being first getting to Mars.
Your arms don't hang by your side in space like they do on Earth because there is no gravity. It feels awkward to have them floating in front of me.
It seems like in the beginning of my flight, the space dreams were rare. And now, almost 150 days into it, the Earth dreams are more of the rare ones.
When you look at the... atmosphere on the limb of the Earth, I wouldn't say it looks unhealthy, but it definitely looks very, very fragile and just kind of like this thin film, so it looks like something that we definitely need to take care of.
A year is a long time to live without the human contact of loved ones, fresh air, and gravity, to name a few.
There are definitely parts of Asia, Central America that when you look at them from space, you're always looking through a haze of pollution. As far as the atmosphere is concerned, and being able to see the surface, you know, I would say definitely those areas that I mentioned look kind of sick.
A lot of the data we collect is stuff that has to be analyzed on the ground. For instance, we can't see, you know, bone loss. Our cells, you know, that's something that we'll have to notice with imaging technology when I get back.
The thing I like most about flying in space is not the view. The thing I like about it is doing something I feel very, very strongly about.
