The Dreams of an Astronaut - with Helen Sharman

What do astronauts dream of? In 1991, Helen Sharman became the first Briton in space; in this animation she shares a dream she has about returning to space, and talks about what it’s like to gaze down on the earth from above.
This is the first instalment in the 2015 Ri advent calendar, ‘A Place Called Space’. Check it out at http://rigb.org/advent

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What do astronauts dream of? How do they feel while they float above the clouds? In 1991 Helen Sharman became the first Briton in space; in this animation, hand-drawn by Ri animator-in-residence Andrew Khosravani, Sharman shares a dream she often has about returning to space, and talks about what it’s like to gaze down on the earth from above.

‘A Place Called Space’ is the 2015 Royal Institution advent calendar. Every day in the run up to Christmas we'll be releasing an original piece of content exploring the human experience and cultural significance of space travel. With hand-drawn animations, experiments in zero gravity, interviews with astronauts and creative data visualisations, the calendar will fire you into space every morning.

'A Place Called Space' channels the voices of seasoned astronauts and expert scientists through the eyes of a team of talented animators, film-makers and artists, bringing you a thought-provoking gem to kick-start each day.
Check it out at http://rigb.org/advent

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dd occasion that I do remember my dreams,
0:11
quite often I have a dream where I'm back in space.
0:20
I'm floating down one of the very long Mir modules
0:24
I'll be going past at this nice, slow rate.
0:29
Really sedate. And then there's a window approaching,
0:37
and as I look out and see the earth, with some blue sea and brilliant white clouds,
0:46
and the curvature of the earth, my eyes are used to the bright lights inside
0:49
the space station so I don't see the stars
0:51
it just looks black on top. Then, floating the opposite direction, coming
0:55
to join me is first Sergei, and then my other crewmates
0:58
who were up there. We just stay around this window.
1:02
Together, we don't say anything in my dream, we're just there. I can hear them breathing,
1:08
and I can feel their warmth because we're really quite close to each other,
1:11
and we're all just looking out of the window.
1:22
Everybody talks about how beautiful the earth looks.
1:26
I always felt in a strange way at once disconnected
1:33
and connected to the earth, because I really didn't feel
1:36
like I was part of it anymore. I was looking back at the earth.
1:41
And yet, I knew that was my home. That was where I wanted to return.
1:48
I absolutely wanted to go back.
1:57
Astronauts just look out and see the physical geography.
1:59
We talk about the countries that we can see,
2:01
and of course you're seeing them in different orientations.
2:04
Then, after a day or two, you stop talking about that,
2:09
and you start to talk about the things that you're missing on earth.
2:13
It's all to do with the people you remember back on earth.
2:16
Our families, our friends, and when we go over countries
2:20
we don't think about the geography below us, we think about the people that are there,
2:25
and hopefully future meetings with them.
2:30
How does that dream end?
2:33
Usually I gently wake up, and I'm always very disappointed
2:37
because I wanted to be back in spa