Sandscript

I just caught the last two parts of 'Book of The Week' on BBC Radio 4; 'An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth'. I heard enough to put it on my goodreads list of books I want to read. A look at the BBC website to see a few of Chris Hadfield's pictures from the space station brought further excitement when I saw a sunny picture of the blue seas of Poole Bay, Dorset, where we live and the lights of London on the Thames.
When I was a child we were expecting to be living on the moon by now, if not Mars, but the Space Shuttle and Concorde have been and gone! However, that does not detract from the achievements of the space station; international co-operation, scientific work and the bravery of the astronauts who can never be sure of getting a safe lift home.
Perhaps most importantly this small band of intelligent adventurers know more about the world than any politician or big business man. From the drying up of the Aral Sea to the growth of Mega Cities, the residents of the space station see it first.
So for Christmas I would much prefer Chris Hadfield's book about real stars than the mountain of celebrity biographies.