Dreams in Space?

I was watching the Colbert Report last Thursday night, and stumbled onto a surprising little nugget about dreams. Stephen Colbert was interviewing astronaut Garrett Reisman, who had recently returned from 95 days in orbit on the Space Shuttle. Colbert asked whether his dreams were different in space and on earth, and Reisman’s response was surprising to me.

Reisman said that halfway through his stay in space he began dreaming that he was floating and flying around, rather than walking. He likened it to learning a new language, where the moment you first dream in the new language you know you’ve turned a corner. To him, dreaming that he was in zero-gravity was a turning point, showing that he had become accustomed to life in orbit.

Spending 95 days in space is not on my list of things to do in this lifetime, so I was very appreciative of this chance encounter with the dreams of someone who had. If you watch the interview clip, their exchange on dreams (including Reisman admitting that he mostly dreams of being shortstop for the New York Yankees) occurs at about 4:13. Enjoy!