lightthiscandle:

Space is fascinating. But plenty of other things are fascinating, too. Like ancient Rome, or reptiles, or psychology. And yet, we don’t have tumblrs about ancient Rome or reptiles or psychology.

How did you become interested in space? Was it through a friend, or a family member, or an experience? Or did it just happen?

My father had always been the science guy, I had always tried to resist it. I had become disillusioned with my fine arts degree and was home taking a year off from university, moping around. One day my father was watching NASA TV and called me over because then-Russian president Dmitri Medvedev (I’m also interested in Russia in general) was talking to the ISS crew for Cosmonautics Day. I started looking up cosmonauts more and more. Suddenly I was hooked and I was out of my funk. Now I’m applying to do my masters next September on the history of the Russian space program.

I can’t really articulate why I like it besides that it’s interesting. There’s always something new to learn about, especially with the secrecy of the Soviet space program.