Orbiting hundreds of miles above Earth in the International Space Station, NASA Astronaut Daniel Tani looked below and saw the Great Pyramid of Giza.
"It was awesome, frankly, to be in one of the most complex things that modern humans have made looking down at one of the most complex structures that ancient humans have made," he said.
Tani, a Japanese-American, was the speaker at the Fort Sill Asian Pacific American Heritage Month luncheon May 26 at the Patriot Club. He spoke about his heritage and gave an educational and humorous presentation on flying in space shuttles and living aboard the space station.
About 475 people attended the luncheon, which was co-sponsored by the 214th Fires Brigade and the installation equal employment opportunity office, and hosted by the installation commander.
The annual event, which recognizes the wide contributions of Asian Pacific Americans to the United States, featured Hawaiian, Tahitian and Samoan dance from youths from the local Kealii's School of Polynesian Dance and Sgt. 1st Class Saunoa Tupea, as entertainment.
Lunch-goers were treated to a fare of Hawaiian chicken, beef and broccoli, fried rice, stir fry, Asian salad and pineapple-coconut cake. This year's theme was "Diverse Leadership for a Diverse Workforce."
Tani, 49, spoke about his Japanese parents, who were born U.S. citizens, yet were forced to live in an internment camp in Utah during World War II.
He showed a black-and-white photograph of his parents during their confinement. His father was wearing a tie and his mother wore a dress. In another time it might look like a young couple ready to go to church.
"I just wonder if I could have had the same dignity and self-respect that they exhibited under such difficult times," he said. "This picture fills me with pride."
In October 2007, Tani was part of the STS-120 seven-person crew on Space Shuttle Discovery, "which was launched PEU, or pointy end up," he said. Discovery went from zero to 17,000 mph in 8.5 minutes, which drew wows from the crowd. The shuttle brought supplies and a relief crew to the space station.
STS-120 had a diverse crew with Air Force pilot Pam Melroy as its commander and with Army Col. Douglas Wheelock on board. In a future mission, Wheelock will become the commander of the space station, Tani said. When he does he will be the first active-duty Army officer to do so.
Tani lived on the space station for four months and shared what it was like to live there with video footage and his accounts.
Meals on the space station were important because they provided an opportunity for socialization for the crew, who lived in close quarters for a long time, Tani said. Much of the food was freeze dried or MRE-style.
Because of weightlessness, the heart didn't have to work as hard to pump blood, Tani said. The space station included a treadmill and a stationery bicycle for the astronauts and cosmonauts to use to stay in shape.
Directly below the bike was a window with a view of Earth.
"If you bike for 90 minutes, you can go all the way around Earth," Tani said, referring to how fast the station orbits the planet.
Crew members slept in sleeping bags secured to the bulkheads not so much to keep warm, but to keep from floating off, Tani said.
Tani also spoke about bathroom activities because children and adults always want to know.
Basically, blowing air pushed waste material from the body into a containment receptacle, he said.
And, when brushing teeth the toothpaste was swallowed.
One of the wonders of returning to Earth was being able to spit out toothpaste, he said.
"I remember coming home and doing it for the first time and watching it go down a sink, thinking: 'This is magic,'" Tani said.
Tani took more than 14,000 photographs on his mission and shared dozens of them showing landmarks on Earth.
These included the night lights of Chicago, which have a color like no other city; Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.
There were also natural wonders, such as glaciers in the Patagonia region of South America, and a lightning storm hundreds of miles across in Africa.
For him, one of the most beautiful sights was the Bahamas.
"The water there is so blue and clear and the sand glows so blazingly white that you can easily see different depths in the water," he said. "These depth patterns create these incredibly beautiful works of art."
Tani said people ask him what is his impression of Earth after having been in space.
"Seeing how not only beautiful but varied the Earth is made be proud to be from the Earth," he said.
Closing the ceremony, Maj. Gen. David Halverson, U.S. Army Fires Center of Excelence and Fort Sill commanding general, thanked Tani, and they exchanged gifts.
Tani presented the general with a frame of NASA photographs and a small U.S. flag.
"It flew with me on the Discovery mission," Tani said. "This flag's been around the world 5 million miles."
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