As the space craft returned from the space station, it reminded me of a saying. I was a pretty avid user of MS flight simulator. I had several copies of it from older to newer. There were some remarks included by actual flight instructors and there was one remark that particular stuck with me. “Remember. All takeoffs are optional. All landings are mandatory.”

As with most things that are a little humorous, there is an element of truth in it. Though the landing was successful this day, there was no one in it. The astronauts, well I was going to say, they were still up in the air, but that’s not true. They are still in space.

While the remark about takeoffs and landings is not completely true in this case, we would hope that the astronauts do return safely, someday. I am sure they do have a limited supply of food water and oxygen. But more than that, I would guess their living quarters are likely getting, figuratively smaller by the day. They may want to start some space walks just to get out a little.

Even though the situation is still quite manageable, it still must be having its affect on them. Just think. They were just likely informed their space craft just successfully landed on earth, but without them. They must be thinking about it even if they don’t want to say anything about it, even to themselves.