While awaiting three new Expedition 32 crewmates, astronaut Joe Acaba reflects on his mission aboard space station and photographs auroras. http://go.nasa.gov/NDKLmK
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Southern Lights
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Our time of solitude is rapidly coming to an end.� Our new crew mates successfully launched very early this morning.� With the 2 days they spend in autonomous flight to reach us, they will arrive around 4 am on July 17.� All of the preparations have been made for their arrival.� Since it was not too long ago that I arrived, I clearly remember those first few days on the ISS.� While the traditional hatch opening and having the opportunity to talk with family and friends that made the trip to Russia are wonderful experiences, I remember being tired and wanting desperately to take a �bath� and put on some regular clean clothes.� While we do have facilities on the Soyuz and lots of opportunities to take cat naps, it sure was nice to be home on the relatively spacious Space Station.� While all of the new crew members have been here before, we will do all we can to make the transition as comfortable as possible.� For Gennady, Sergey and I, we will begin another sleep shift tomorrow.� We will wake up at our normal time of 6 am and are scheduled to go to sleep at 3:30 pm with a wake up at midnight.� The day of docking is a long day for all of the crews and we will be back to a normal schedule on Wednesday.� As I mentioned previously, HTV will be arriving 10 days later so we will all hit the road running.

Knowing what is ahead, Gennady, Sergey and I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend.� While some work had to be done, overall it was an opportunity for us to recharge our personal batteries and just enjoy the time.� We were rewarded with the results of the recent solar activity � the southern lights.� I remember seeing the auroras during my Shuttle flight and I thought it was the coolest thing.� Then I arrived this time and Don Pettit showed me the auroras and they were much, much better than what I seen previously.� I was happy as could be.� Then on Saturday, I was working out and in between sets I saw that we were heading south during a night pass.� So I decided my workout could be postponed for a few minutes and I turned out all of the lights in Node 3.� Within a couple of minutes, I could not believe what I was seeing.� It was absolutely incredible.� I enjoyed the show for a few minutes and then felt I had to inform my crew mates so they could also take in the view.� Even Gennady, with all of his time on orbit, was amazed.� I am no expert with a camera but I tried to capture at least a small reminder of the experience.� The pictures were not great, but they would do.� So today, at around the same time of day, I thought I would take one more look.� Just when you think it can�t get much better, it gets way better.� I of course took some obligatory pictures, but then I just sat in the dark, in the peace and quiet of this incredible man made, orbiting laboratory and just looked out the window in awe.� What a truly magnificent planet we live on and solar system we live in.� I could not have asked for a better way to mark the middle of my Expedition and to start what will be a challenging and rewarding time on the International Space Station.
* Since astronaut Joe Acaba is writing from the International Space Station, the time references in this post are GMT.�