So, you think YOU'RE isolated...Vol. 1

I've been thinking about corollaries to our shared isolation lately. Historical examples, novels/movies, professions. For fun, I've been writing about these thematically over the past few weeks for my team. I'm going to share a few of those here until my team tells me to stop, or I run out of ideas. 

Here goes...

So, you think YOU'RE isolated...have you tried isolating IN SPACE?

One of the most extreme forms of isolation is to leave the planet. LinkedIn recently compiled NASA Astronaut's advice for surviving isolation, and I followed that thread through a black hole of resources. 

Here are a few I thought were awesome.

• Scott Kelly, star of the great Netflix series "A Year in Space", recently penned an OpEd article in the NYT on tips for isolation (tip, you don't have to subscribe to NYT to read this article, just sign up for a free account)
• Commander Chris Hadfield has a great 2-minute Youtube video on the same topic. If you like his no-nonsense demeanor, check out his Ted Talk on "Going Blind in Space".
• NASA has aggregated astronaut tips on isolation from Astronaut Anne McClain's curated twitter feed.
• Interested in how you brush your teeth, wash your hair or what you do in your off time in space? Here's what life on the International Space Station is like according to NASA 
• Did you know that female astronaut Peggy Whitson has spent more time in space than anyone on the planet? (665 days!) 

This is great Brian. Tell me some more fun space facts...

Ok, I'm glad you asked. 

• Did you know that in the 70's NASA encoded golden records with a range of music from Beethoven to Chuck Berry before sending the probes into deep space? Now that's rare vinyl! When it's discovered by aliens they'll hear this soundtrack.
• Fun fact: It's taken Voyager I 42 years to travel 13.8B miles from earth It would take a beam of light only 20.5 hrs to travel the same distance! Watch a great documentary on Voyager here. 
• Did you know that every element heavier than Helium (atomic weight 2) was forged in the belly of a star? And that everything heavier than Iron (atomic weight 26) can only be formed in a Supernova? In fact Iron essentially creates a heart attack for stars. There are ~92 natural elements, which means that you only exist because of stardust from supernovas!!
• Last thing. Maybe THE BEST LINK HERE. Here is an amazing visualization of the size of our solar system if we assume the moon is only 1 pixel in scale. View this on your iPad and get a cup of coffee, you'll be swiping right for a looong time, but it is super entertaining. 

So when you're losing your cool this week, do a little space reading. 

Go outside and look up at the stars. 

And realize that while the 1-pixel model demonstrates we're a tiny, tiny component of the universe, you're the product of star dust that took billions of years to combine to make you special. 

I'm glad you're here.