The Sea of Tranquility is a total shitshow.

Once you’re 5-10 miles up, the sky stops being blue. It’s black like space. It’s also, against all odds, a goddamn shitshow. I should add, if you’re below 5 miles, this is totally not what you’re seeing. But up here right now? Welcome to the worst day ever. It’s a goddamn war zone.<br><br>I’m currently on the International Space Station, waiting for the Russians to blow it up at any moment. They’re enemies of the free world. I hate them. You hate them. We all hate them, and we shouldn’t be in the same space as them right now. But here we are, because we’re not allowed to let politics get involved in our work. That’s what our bosses keep saying, anyway.<br><br>The Russians have a few astronauts up here. They’re all on the same team. Americans have a few more, but there’s also a handful of Germans, some Brits and Canadians, and one Mexican. I’m part of a group of three Papuan New Guineans. It’s a new thing for us. I’m pretty proud of it, but the fact that we’re up here right now isn’t much more than a publicity stunt. I shouldn’t be here. I’m not much of an astronaut.<br><br>A few days ago, the Russians invaded Ukraine. That’s when things started going crazy. I watched a live shot of a Russian tank go through a Ukrainian apartment building on one of the ISS’s TVs. The Russian astronauts didn’t say anything. They just sat and watched, too. One of them looked embarrassed. But now the Americans are talking about blowing the whole thing up and going home. They say it’s because the Russians are “funny.”<br><br>I don’t know what that means. I don’t like that they’re talking about it, either. It’s not our right to decide this. But we’re on the Americans’ side, so I don’t feel like I can say this right now. The Sea of Tranquility is a mess. Make it make sense.<br><br>**TL;DR:** The Sea of Tranquility is a total shitshow.