Common Themes

Martha Stewart talks with space station astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria and Sunita Williams via a video link. Image courtesy of USA Today and The Martha Stewart Show.

Last week USA Today reported on a remarkable video call between the current ISS crew and Martha Stewart, which took place January 22. While they quip that “no place seems less likely to interest Martha Stewart, the guru of gracious living,” her significant other, Charles Simonyi, heads to the ISS in April as the fifth space tourist, and I’m sure Martha merely wanted to make sure that they put out the good linens.

All joking aside, however, this call brings up an interesting, surely deprioritized factor in orbital living — is there any way to “home-ify” a living space where every square inch of usable space is, well, used?

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According to this article in Newsweek, Stephen King ranks spaceflight in his top three things to do before he dies:

2. To fly in space—orbital would be fine—and to write about it.

I’m with you all the way, Steve. Coming soon, Scary Space Story by Stephen King!