“Former NASA Astronaut Reveals the Surprising Truth Behind His Disappointing First Glimpse of Earth from Space”

Garrett Reisman isn’t your typical astronaut—he’s the guy who prepped for the cosmos by chilling underwater for two weeks! Picture this: in 2003, he found himself 62 feet below the Atlantic’s surface at Aquarius Reef Base, Florida, as part of his training for futuristic voyages to the International Space Station. Fast forward to between 2008 and 2010, and he took to the stars, spending over 107 days in space! But wait—here’s the kicker. When it finally came time to gaze down at Earth from orbit, he described his feelings as “meh.” In a world where astronauts typically wax lyrical about the transformative “overview effect,” Reisman’s perspective challenges our notions of awe and wonder. How could someone with such expansive experiences feel subjected to the mundane? Buckle up as we dive into his candid reflections on unity, perspective, and the surprisingly humdrum moment of seeing our planet from above. LEARN MORE.

Garrett Reisman isn’t your average astronaut.

In 2003, the former NASA engineer spent two weeks living 62ft below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean at Aquarius Reef Base, Florida.

This was to prepare for future trips to the International Space Station, something the 57-year-old has done twice, from 2008 to 2010.

Garrett Reisman left NASA in 2011 (NASA)

Having logged over 107 days in space, however, the ex-astronaut insists that he was ‘underwhelmed’ when he saw Earth for the first time.

Normally, astronauts go on about the ‘overview effect’, which is the feeling of unexpected and overwhelming emotion when looking at Earth from space, a kind of like ‘we’re all in this together’ vibe.

“And what that felt like is really, really, hard to describe in words, but if I had to pick one word to describe what I was feeling at that moment, it would be ‘meh’,” he said on the Joe Rogan Experience back in 2020.

Many astronauts experience the ‘overview effect’ (Getty Images/Bettmann)

At the risk of sounding pretty ungrateful, Reisman went on to make a really good point about why he felt that way.

He said: “Yeah, they call that the overview effect. And a lot of guys come back and talk about that, and they really feel it, and they talk about a world without borders.

“And, it’s a beautiful sentiment, and I don’t want to knock that in any way.

“When you look down and you see the planet and you realise that we’re all in the same boat, you know.

“But that didn’t strike me as a sudden realisation because I knew that before I went.

Reisman continued: “You shouldn’t have to go and strap into a rocket and blast off and look at the Earth and know that basically, we’re all human beings.

“I think the things that unite us are so much stronger and more important than the crazy little things that divide us, like race or sex or nationality or politics or whatever.

“And you at the end of the day, we have this one home, and we’re all stuck here together.

“So I had that strong knowledge before I went and maybe that’s why, when I look down, I’m like, ‘Yeah, there it is. OK. I get it’.

“But it wasn’t like all of a sudden, like the shade was pulled back and there was suddenly a new realisation about life.”

It’s hard to knock him on that one.