“Every astronaut talks about how we don’t see the country borders when we’re out there,” said NASA’s Tom Mashburn at the Newseum Tuesday morning of how the vastness of Space has changed his perspective of Earth. “The unity of human beings is profound. I wish politicians could see it like we do.”
Mashburn’s DC appearance coincided with a planned spacewalk by astronauts from NASA and the European Space Agency which was broadcast live on the Newseum’s atrium screen.
As the weightless walk took place in Space, Mashburn painted a detailed picture of life as an astronaut, starting with his own first clumsy zero gravity moments, and finishing with his return home — where he 
forgot that objects can’t float (resulting in many broken dishes for the Mashburn household)!!
Mashburn is the most recent astronaut to perform a spacewalk and return to Earth. He has spent more than 24 hours on spacewalks; his very first spaceflight was aboard space shuttle Endeavour during its July 2009 space station assembly mission.
