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Colonel Terry Virts (ret) served in the United States Air Force as a fighter pilot, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical…
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There's a cliché that astronauts don't see borders- but we do. The India-Pakistan border is clearly visible from space, as is the North-South Korea border. You can see our politics playing out – you can see the glow of humanity thriving, and the absence of light where it doesn't. We need to figure out our politics – it really determines the quality of life for all.
— Colonel Terry VirtsNASA Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
We have to remember – there's no Planet B, we have to protect Earth. Maybe eventually we'll make star ships, but that isn't happening for a thousand years. We need to figure out how to live here sustainably for the long term.
— Colonel Terry VirtsNASA Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
In space, you can only worry about the things you can control – not the constant low-level simmering danger that you might explode and die. If you worried about that, even a two-week flight would be hell, never mind a 200 day one.
— Colonel Terry VirtsNASA Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
The perspective of seeing the Earth from space has rewired our brain. We used to have a 2-dimensional view for hundreds of thousands of years. Then we became 3-dimensional with aircraft and rockets. Now with Hubble we have a 4-dimensional view of our universe. When you see a galaxy that's a billion light years away, you're seeing a billion years into the past in real time.
— Colonel Terry VirtsNASA Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
I came away from space flight realising that I don't have enough faith to be an atheist. Life is so amazing. Even the simplest organisms have millions of cells that have to randomly align in a perfect way, and those processes are infinitesimally less complex than emotions and consciousness. When you look at the universe and the forces of nature – science has to explain how it all works, but to my mind, there just has to be a creator.
— Colonel Terry VirtsNASA Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
I think space made me less black and white, less uptight. I don't get as excited about things as easily. I feel like I take positions on things less easily.
— Terry VirtsNASA Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
I remember being on a spacewalk and had a few seconds to see a view that humans were not meant to see. It was like I was hearing from God. But then, I had to get back to work.
— Terry VirtsNASA Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
The perspective of seeing the Earth from space has rewired our brain. We used to have a 2-dimensional view for hundreds of thousands of years. Now with space telescopes we have a 4-dimensional view of our universe.
— Terry VirtsNASA Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
I came away from space flight realising that I don't have enough faith to be an atheist. Life is so amazing. When you look at the universe and the forces of nature, there just has to be a creator.
— Terry VirtsNASA Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
Nothing prepares you to actually see the Earth from space. I spent more than 7 months in space, and even on my last day that view never got old.
— Terry VirtsNASA Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
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