Cognitive Solitude

Midway through his first spacewalk, astronaut John Herrington felt stunningly alone. It was two days before Thanksgiving in 2002 and he was running an equipment check on the far side of the International Space Station.

“I’m at the end of my tether, at the edge of the space station. I can’t see my spacewalking partner; he’s off doing something else,” said Herrington. “I’m it.”