SPOKANE, Wash. – Nonstop Local’s ‘Where We Come From’ series usually features people from other cultures and countries living in the Inland Northwest. However, this time we’re featuring someone raised right here in Spokane – NASA Astronaut Anne McClain because of how her world view from space has given her perspective on how people across the globe are more alike than different.
Anne describes her first launch to space with three astronauts from three countries with different backgrounds and cultures. She says as they approached the launch pad, they were stripped of everything they’d built in their life. She says by the time they reached the rocket, they were wearing the same clothes and taking the same items to space.
McClain says a trip to space reminds you of humanity and how similar everyone on Earth is – that they breath the same air and need the same temperatures to survive. She says when she returned to earth and landed in Kazakhstan, she wanted to hug the first person she saw – a Kazakh citizen who she said felt like a brother. She says she felt so connected because they were both human.
Anne says her trips to space have made her realize that everyone around the world is doing the same thing – trying to take care of their families and live a meaningful life. She says even though the different places that we’re born into change the way we do that; we are more alike than we think.
