When Doug Wheelock came home after 163 days in space, he said he had craved the aroma of leaves, grass, flowers, and trees, the rush of Earthiness that reaches astronauts only when the hatch opens back onto the living planet (opens in new tab)

When Doug Wheelock came home from the International Space Station in November 2010, the first thing that startled him was not a meal, a shower, or a bed. It was the smell of Earth. ABC News later asked Wheelock about returning from orbit, and he described the thing he had missed in the plainest possible […]