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Space travel is unequivocally dramatic and challenging.

But that is easy to lose sight of when we keep seeing videos of astronauts, and wannabe astronauts, chilling in their spacecraft playing ball games and getting up to other shenanigans.

Jack Fischer is a retired NASA astronaut, having come back to Earth from the International Space Station four years ago.

He has taken to Twitter recently to share some rather astonishing videos that show just how hectic space travel really is, reports CNET.

One of the videos he shares is his ride down to Earth in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 2017, alongside NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and Roscosmos cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin.

Fischer, and apparently a few other astronauts, say the experience of coming back to Earth feels like a “series of car crashes”.

Sure enough, the capsule looks like it’s going through the worst of it for the full time that it descends:

I caught a ride back to Earth, courtesy of the Soyuz, 4 years ago today. Some astronauts compare it to a series of car crashes… and I wouldn’t disagree 😵 pic.twitter.com/pKYwokVTZ9

— Jack Fischer (@Astro2fish) September 3, 2021

Fischer also shared a mind-blowing view from the spacecraft’s small window as it passes through the atmosphere for re-entry:

I came home from space 4 years ago this week, and if you’ve ever wondered what it looks like when you travel through this atmosphere -here you go😳#Landaversary pic.twitter.com/yGlgzzvEvA

— Jack Fischer (@Astro2fish) August 31, 2021

Fischer returned to the US Air Force in 2018, after spending a good nine years with NASA:

I’m often asked what we do on the #ISS – the answer is …SCIENCE! Observing how things work free from gravity has led to huge advancements in everything from DNA to tissue regeneration and cancer treatments… the ultimate goal is to improve life for humanity! pic.twitter.com/jjGS1UIs6G

— Jack Fischer (@Astro2fish) September 7, 2021

Bumpy rides aside, he also shared some of the more awe-inspiring moments of space travel:

I wish I could give everyone on Earth the gift of seeing our home from space. I took this photo of Hurricane Harvey, one of the most devastating in recent history, but from above it’s quiet and beautiful. The incredible perspective that spaceflight offers could change the world. pic.twitter.com/WMIJXJLrX7

— Jack Fischer (@Astro2fish) August 26, 2021

If Elon Musk’s private space company follows through with that exclusive documentary deal with Netflix, then we should be able to see a whole lot more where this came from in the near future.

[source:cnet]