Minnesota astronaut discusses Earth from orbit

BY JACKIE BUSSJAEGER INTERIM QUAD EDITOR

People around the globe enjoyed the spectacle of the northern lights this month, but astronaut, physicist, U.S. Navy test pilot and White Bear Lake graduate Josh Cassada had a bit of a different view.

Cassada, one of the four astronauts in the SpaceX Dragon Endurance crew, is currently aboard the International Space Station.

The White Bear Press recently got a chance to chat with the four Crew-5 astronauts, including a former White Bear Press carrier Cassada.

The Crew-5 astronauts have been living and working aboard the station since their docking Oct. 6, 2022. During their mission, the crew contributed to hundreds of experiments and technology demonstrations, including cardiovascular health, bioprinting, and fluid behavior in microgravity to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and to benefit life on Earth.

Cassada described how mission commander Nicole Mann called him into the observation cupola early one morning to see something incredible—the glow of the aurora borealis over the Earth’s atmosphere.

“We just soaked it all in. We were feeling a little guilty in a position that we didn’t have the words to describe what we were seeing,” Cassada said. The following day, the crew set up a time lapse camera and were able to capture some images of the aurora borealis over Earth. “Everybody up here tolerated me saying, hey, that’s the excited state of oxygen,” Cassada added. “That’s just quantum mechanics at work.”

Cassada went on to say that witnessing this event has been one of the biggest highlights of the mission for him. “I can’t thank Nicole enough for dragging me down into the cupola on Monday morning and showing me the view. When I heard that excitement in her voice, I knew it was going to be something, but I didn’t know it was going to be that. It was incredible to see that aurora.”

Crew-5 is the fifth crew rotation mission with SpaceX for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Regular commercial crew rotation missions enable NASA to continue the research and technology investigations taking place aboard the station. This research benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future human exploration through the agency’s Artemis missions, which will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future expeditions to Mars.

To aspiring future astronauts, Cassada gave this advice: “My path to get here was simply doing what I love. I don’t think there’s a recipe, I don’t think there’s a checklist you can ever check off to get to a place like this, but if you’re doing what you love you can’t lose.”

All four crew members expressed their gratitude for the unique experiences they’ve been able to have, but look forward to the creature comforts they’ve missed on Earth. Cassada is excited to be reunited with his family, who have some exciting plans when he returns to the planet.

“In our family of four, I’m the only who can’t sail, despite being the only one who’s in the U.S. Navy. So when I get back, my kids have promised to teach me how to sail,” he said. The family also plans to adopt a rescue dog, and Cassada can’t wait to help his kids with their math studies.