CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) 鈥� may be wondrous, but nothing beats seeing the northern and southern lights from space.
That鈥檚 the word Wednesday from a pair of living aboard the International Space Station for the past six months.
Astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway told The Associated Press that the space station鈥檚 position prevented them from seeing totality during last week鈥檚 solar eclipse, but they still enjoyed a partial eclipse. They said they鈥檒l try to catch next week鈥檚 lunar eclipse, too.
鈥淲e’re hoping for the best. It should be pretty awesome,鈥� Hathaway said.
Meir said the best cosmic shows are auroras. The sun is coming off its busy season, making the northern and southern lights more dramatic and brilliant, she noted.
After one especially large blast of plasma from the sun, 鈥渢he green dancing aurora鈥� appeared right beneath them instead of off in the distance near the poles, she added.
鈥淚t looked like a snake making its way right beneath us and that was a really extraordinary one,鈥� said Meir, the space station’s commander. 鈥淵ou could see the green light bouncing off the white outside exterior of the space station.鈥�
Meir has also taken special pleasure in whipping up culinary delights in orbit, donning a space cat-adorned apron while sampling some of the station-grown mustard greens and kale. She joined crewmate Anil Menon, wearing a chef’s toque, for his first cooking episode of 鈥淐hez ISS鈥� this week.
Arriving last month in a Russian capsule, Menon packed the apron and toque for his more-to-come cooking show. Meir’s luggage included a piccolo: She performed John Philip Sousa’s 鈥淭he Stars and Stripes Forever鈥� with the Boston Pops on July 4. Her part was prerecorded in space.
Meir also took up a fancy scarf and glittery violet bell bottoms, considerably more casual than the dress she flew on her last station trip that saw her take part in the first all-female spacewalk.
While Hathaway’s culinary and musical talents may be lacking, he said he’s never bored. 鈥淭here’s always something to do,鈥� he said, including weekend karaoke nights featuring the guitar and other musical instruments.
Launched in February, Meir, a marine biologist, and Hathaway, a Navy captain, are due to return to Earth via SpaceX once their replacements arrive next month. The current crew includes three Americans, three Russians and one French astronaut.
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