The Astronaut Who Couldn't Stop Weeping

When astronaut Ron Garan looked out the cupola window of the International Space Station in 2011, he saw something that broke him open. Earth hung in the blackness — a thin, luminous atmosphere clinging to its surface like breath on a cold morning. He called it the "orbital perspective," and it left him in tears. From 250 miles up, every city was a faint smudge.…