
NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Anne McClain talk about their experiences onboard the International Space Station, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Hague most recently spent 203 days living and working onboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 59 and 60. McClain most recently spent 204 days living and working onboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 58 and 59. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Anne McClain talk about their experiences onboard the International Space Station, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Hague most recently spent 203 days living and working onboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 59 and 60. McClain most recently spent 204 days living and working onboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 58 and 59. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Anne McClain talk about their experiences onboard the International Space Station, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Hague most recently spent 203 days living and working onboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 59 and 60. McClain most recently spent 204 days living and working onboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 58 and 59. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA astronaut Anne McClain talks about her experiences onboard the International Space Station, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. McClain most recently spent 204 days living and working onboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 58 and 59. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA astronaut Anne McClain talks about her experiences onboard the International Space Station, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. McClain most recently spent 204 days living and working onboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 58 and 59. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA astronaut Anne McClain talks about her experiences onboard the International Space Station, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. McClain most recently spent 204 days living and working onboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 58 and 59. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Anne McClain talk about their experiences onboard the International Space Station with Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum curator Jennifer Levasseu, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Hague most recently spent 203 days living and working onboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 59 and 60. McClain most recently spent 204 days living and working onboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 58 and 59. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

"When we do passes over parts of the world where you can see the human impact to the world, you get to really see the magnitude of the impact. When we’re flying over North America, we come up over Vancouver, and a short five minutes later we’re flying over Houston. We’d just cross over all of the Western United States. And during the daylight, you may not really see a whole lot of human influence, with all the great plains are stretched out and the cities blending into everything. "But when we’d do that same view over South America, at what at one point was rainforest, as far as we can see, has all been deforested. You can understand the reasons why people are doing it. They’re trying to survive. But you also know at your core that we’re having a significant impact on how life is balancing on the world. And so, I walked away with a deep sense of stewardship of the planet. My wife chuckles at this being my mid-life crisis. I came home and signed up for 100% renewable energy and looked at EV cars and everything. "When you look out into space, and you see all those stars and all those galaxies — there’s just so much stuff out there. But the only thing you see with any life on it is what’s right below you. You know that we’re on this island out in the middle of this vast darkness, and we need to just take care of it as best we can." NASA astronaut Nick Hague, Monday, Jan. 13, 2020 in Washington, DC. Hague most recently spent 203 days living and working onboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 59 and 60. Hague ventured outside the space station on three spacewalks totaling 19 hours and 56 minutes. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

"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." NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Monday, Jan. 13, 2020 in Washington, DC. McClain most recently spent 204 days living and working onboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 58 and 59. McClain ventured outside the space station on two spacewalks totaling 13 hours and 8 minutes. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)