TikTok Has Come to the International Space Station

Samantha Cristoforetti gave viewers a firsthand look at orbital life

Astronauts
The astronauts of the NASA Crew-4 mission head to Launch Complex 39-A to prepare for liftoff to the International Space Station onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, Wednesday, April 27, 2022.
Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

For thousands of years, space was — to modify a line once said by Tim Curry — the one place that hadn’t been corrupted by memes. That might not be the case for too much longer, though. TikTok has come to the International Space Station, you see, and where TikTok has gone, can memes be far behind?

As Space.com reports, the European Space Agency’s Samantha Cristoforetti set a new milestone this week. On Thursday, Cristoforetti posted a video to the streaming service from space. Accompanied by launch footage and a stuffed monkey, Cristoforetti offered viewers an inside look at what the process of going into space is like — and provides a firsthand view of the experience of floating weightlessly.

@astrosamantha

Back on the International Space Station!🙋🏻‍♀️ #MissionMinerva #HomeAwayFromHome #SpaceTok

♬ Luxury fashion (no vocals) – TimTaj

Cristoforetti was one of four astronauts who headed to the I.S.S. via SpaceX in late April. Their group overlapped with the previous crew for a few days, and the video includes some footage of the two crews interacting.

Throw a Star Trek reference into the mix and you have a thoroughly charming overview of life in space. TikTok certainly has its stranger aspects, but there’s something to be said for using social media to offer a firsthand look at what life in space is like. As Space.com’s article notes, Cristoforetti has used the app to document her work as an astronaut before, which strongly suggests we’ll get more dispatches from orbit soon.

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