NASA astronaut and ISS expedition crew member Jessica Meir, who has recently returned to Earth, has apparently offered a brief assessment of the current situation in the world on Twitter.
The Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft carrying Meir and her colleagues, another NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, landed in Kazakhstan on 17 April.
"We’ve returned to a different planet, but it remains a spectacular one", Meir tweeted, possibly referring to the current crisis, though she didn't elaborate – at least in that particular post.
Quite a ride home from @Space_Station today - my profound gratitude to all those that shaped #TheJourney. Thank you! We’ve returned to a different planet, but it remains a spectacular one. pic.twitter.com/3aoRmlXYkq
— Jessica Meir (@Astro_Jessica) April 17, 2020
But while Jessica's tweet didn't mention the coronavirus pandemic specifically, several social media users were quick to bring up the topic while replying to her message, with some joking about lockdown being a "piece of cake" for a person who stayed in the closed confines of a space station for so long.
This lockdown and isolation thing will be a piece of cake for you.
— John Ejalu (@EjaluJohn) April 17, 2020
Should have stayed quarantined... lol.
— AquillanZ (@AquillanZ) April 17, 2020
I would have stayed on the space station if I was you.
— Who Dares Wins (@SimonPkcjones) April 17, 2020
As lengthy spaceflights apparently tend to weaken a person's immune system, the staff tending to the returned spacefarers was wearing face masks and gloves; and rather than being taken to the nearby city of Karaganda for a welcoming ceremony, the now former ISS crew was flown directly to Baikonur – all due to the coronavirus precautions, it seems.
