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Different astronauts have different hobbies, but everyone has something, he reiterated. To Dominick, every person should have something they are passionate about. “My advice to kids when they ask for advice is honestly, stop the endless scrolling on your phone. Go build something, make something, learn something.”

thought, ‘The barriers to publication have completely changed; the world is about to change’.” The reflection stems from a conversation about astrophotography, a niche type of the visual medium focused on capturing celestial objects, like stars, planets and galaxies. For many astronauts, it’s a skill taught by NASA to complete the task of documentation aboard the ISS. For Dominick, it’s so much more. A student of the art form, Dominick made photography central to his identity aboard the orbiting laboratory. According to NASA, he alone shot roughly 500,000 images throughout the seven months he was stationed on the ISS. Along with capturing breathtaking images of Earth, including active hurricanes and other powerful weather systems, the striking colors of the aurora borealis — among his favorites — and even a solar eclipse, Dominick was proactive in sharing both the photos and his creative process with the world through social media. “We live in an incredible time,” says Dominick. “Twenty-five years later and I’m on the space station now. I can take imagery, which is an incredible communication tool — and video — and not only can I share it with the world but I can also have a two-way conversation with folks on Earth.” His social posts often yielded interesting, real-time conversations among users, who ran the gamut from professional and amateur photographers to business accounts to individuals with a general interest in space travel. And Dominick was often involved, answering their questions regarding approach and camera settings to general inquiries asking if it was really him replying (he’d occasionally reply with a vague “yes” to those as a humorous form of entertainment for himself). “It created an authentic and interactive relationship with folks who could actually feel like they were there,” Dominick says. “A smart person once told me that interested people are interesting. So, if you’re talking and sharing about things that interest you, you’re going to be an interesting person to interact with and it’s going to be entertaining content.” But it wasn’t just his successes — Dominick was also sharing images and videos that didn’t necessarily hit the mark. “Another tidbit I picked up in some public engagement training,” he says, with a smile. “People don’t care about your successes; they care about your messes. I was sharing my mistakes, and it was generating authentic experiences with folks.” As fun and engaging as the image sharing and social interactions were for people on the ground, the process was also beneficial for Dominick’s mental health. Aboard the ISS for more than half a year, it’s vital to find a hobby, he says. For him, it was honing his photography chops. “Our physical and mental health are intertwined,” he says. “We work out every day, and for me, taking pictures was a huge part of maintaining my mental health. It was a good way to escape the day to-day work up there. A huge component of my mental health was taking a whole bunch of pictures and sharing them with the world to stay connected with humans on Earth.” MAINTAINING MENTAL HEALTH THROUGH ART

FRAGILITY, AMPLIFIED

Orbiting the Earth 16 times per day certainly has a unique way of heightening one’s perspective of humanity. “The fragility of our planet is amplified,” says Dominick. “Viewing Earth from the ISS, you realize how thin the atmosphere is and what little separation humans have from space and the fragility of our civilization.” Constantly viewing the Earth from above has inspired Dominick to travel to places he has never ventured. “We orbited over parts of the Earth that are absolutely inspirational,” he says. “Specifically, the western side of South America. The mountains down there look incredible.” Along with personal travel, Dominick continues to travel with NASA to promote the importance of space exploration and has since resumed his job developing new spacecraft technology. “My background is flight testing for the U.S. Navy, so you bring that skillset over. Once you have that experience flying in space, you now apply it. It’s a big contribution.”

SPACEX CREW-8 MISSION BY THE NUMBERS

235 days in space, the longest of any human SpaceX mission 100 M miles traveled 4.7 M images taken for Crew Earth Observations

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