An astronaut has left a glowing review of her time in space on TripAdvisor, giving ordinary citizens a glimpse of what life is like in that realm.
Dr Sian Proctor, the first African-American woman to serve as a pilot for a spacecraft, was part of the crew of SpaceX’s Inspiration4.
Source: TripAdvisor
According to the Washington Post, Inspiration4 was the first all-civilian crew to reach orbit in a fully commercial mission.
This means it comprised entirely amateur astronauts who are private citizens.
Paid for by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, the three-day journey was meant to orbit around Earth “by a group of people who just months ago didn’t know each other and didn’t expect to fly to space”, reported Washington Post.
Dr Proctor is a licensed pilot, artist, poet and college professor from Phoenix. She snagged her spot in the spacecraft by winning a competition.
In her TripAdvisor review, Dr Proctor rated her three day experience in space according to various categories, including location, sleep quality and ambience.
All of them got a five star rating, except for cleanliness, which she awarded four stars because their water bottles would get dislodged and float about.
Describing the atmosphere as “out of this world”, Dr Proctor also said the ambience was “serene” and she got to see “stunning views”.
Addressing what it was like to sleep while in zero-gravity, she said floating to sleep was amazing. “I never once thought about needing a pillow,” she noted.
However, waking up was a challenge as she felt disoriented and needed a moment to realise she was in space, she added.
As for transportation, that got five stars. It only took about eight minutes for the crew to get to space, and the ride “was smooth and enjoyable”.
The food provided in-flight, too, hit the spot, as SpaceX had accommodated to their dietary requests.
She had a gluten-free pepperoni pizza as well as a gluten-free BLT sandwich along with olives and cheese. For snacks, she got M&Ms and Skittles.
Source: TripAdvisor
Overall, she described the experience as “amazing and transformative”.
While she would highly recommend it to everyone, she said it should be a minimum of five days as her three-day journey felt too short.
“There’s nothing more magical or awe-inspiring than floating in space while being bathed in Earthlight.”
TripAdvisor worked with Dr Proctor to get her review of the off-planet accommodation as well as her experience with the flight.
The review was a partnership between TripAdvisor and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics to raise awareness about space tourism.
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Featured image adapted from TripAdvisor.
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