The content of this post is an adaptation of an original text written by Guy Laliberté.
On October 9, we were lucky to get an uplink to see the event live. I’m not sure that this was a good thing after all since the transmission was interrupted three times because of the satellite coverage. The image was jerky and not very clear, so I wasn’t able to tell if the real show was being well transmitted. As soon as the event was over, I called Montréal to find out and was relieved to hear the team say they were very satisfied with the result since there had been only a few minor distortions. I was happy!
Even though I was eager to see the comments on how the show had been received, I was already proud of my friends who had taken part in the event and my Cirque du Soleil gang, and was grateful to all of them.
I didn’t sleep much during my stay in space and told myself I would able to catch up once I was back on Earth! I always ended up dozing off as I was admiring the view outside the window. I could see 16 sunrises and sunsets all in one day: sheer heaven!
The food aboard the ISS came from many countries, and I was very surprised by its variety. I missed eating fresh fruit but that was about all.
Of course, everything is a bit more complicated in space, but one adapts… We develop techniques and hold on tightly to handles! The equipment and floating laboratory were very impressive. Everything is precisely coordinated and everyone has a lot to do. Weightlessness may give the impression that we’re static but there’s a lot of activity going on!
On a physical level, blood rushes to our head so we become swollen. Our entire body adapts to weightlessness: the organs position themselves a bit differently while the muscles hardly work at all… It’s also very dry; the water vapours are recycled—even urine! Yep, I drank urine water and found that it tasted almost as good as spring water!
I was also very impressed by the number of experiments carried out aboard the ISS, for health and environment purposes… for the benefit of human beings and their planet.
I lived a countless number of amazing moments during this adventure but the most memorable ones are those during which I watched the Earth. Each time my eyes spotted something beautiful, something even more stunning came along. Don’t ask me to describe to you all the emotions I felt, it’s an impossible task. All I can say is that it’s a unique and profound feeling. Apart from the birth of my children and intense moments shared with those I love, these days in space were the most wonderful moments of my life and I’m so grateful to have lived them.
Seeing our planet’s immense beauty also makes us realize its great fragility. Surrounded by darkness, with very distant neighbours, it strikes us as small and vulnerable… and magnificently proud. If there is such a thing as paradise, we’re already living in it. Now, I’m deeply convinced of this.