HOUSTON – The members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission discussed their 156 days aboard the International Space Station during a news conference on Wednesday at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Crew-5 launched in October, carrying NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos astronaut Anna Kikina to the International Space Station, following a delay from Hurricane Ian.
Recommended Videos
The crew reflected on everything from space food, the use of Velcro and their funniest moments in space.
Mann, the first first Native American woman in space, talked about how it felt to feel gravity again on their return to earth.
“Should we share the secret with them? Gravity is not cool,” Mann jokingly said when explaining that is takes a while to adapt.
“By that time we were at 4.5 G, you’re really getting smooshed into that seat. You really focusing on just breathing. You can feel your tongue in the back of your throat and it’s just amazing because it’s so powerful and so strong.
[TRENDING: Become a News 6 Insider]
According to NASA’s blog, the troupe performed microgravity experiments involving such investigations as the effect of gravity on aging and gardening. Saturday night, the four returned to Earth after five months aboard the ISS, parachuting into the sea off the coast of Tampa in a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
Adding to the experiments, Crew-5 also saw Mann and Wakata complete two spacewalks as Cassada completed three, bringing the latter astronaut’s career total to 21 hours and change spent in a spacesuit outside of the ISS. All involved traveled over 66.5 million statute miles, orbiting the Earth 2,512 times, according to NASA.
When asked about the food they ate, Wakata said while the food didn’t taste different in space, he said they rarely have fresh food, like salad.
“And I was really longing for sushi. So I asked my wife to bring sushi when we we got back to Houston, and that was really good,” Wakata said.
Before departing the ISS, Crew-5 members greeted those of Crew-6, who docked at the station March 3. After a week of handoff duties, station tours and pleasantries, Crew-5 headed home.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: