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Meals

Clay Anderson, who has spent 167 days in space over the course of two missions, said aside from seeing family, the next thing most astronauts want most is to take care of the cravings they weren't able to indulge in space.

\"One of the things I was looking forward to was a really good meal. Being a husker from Nebraska I wanted a steak, a stuffed baked potato and a Cabernet,\" he told ABC News.

That is -- when the astronauts can stomach a full feast. The Soyuz capsule they'll be returning home in is known for being hot, cramped and a wild ride.

Wheelock, who traveled on the Discovery space shuttle during his first mission and the Soyuz during his second, likened the experience of traveling in the Russian capsule to \"going over Niagara falls in a barrel, but the barrel is on fire.\"

\"It is a feast for the senses,\" he said. \"It's incredibly bumpy and hot and cramped. You have a lot of G-forces pushing you down.\"

\"PHOTO:
NASA
PHOTO: NASA astronaut Terry Virts, left, Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, center, and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, right, are pictured on May 6, 2015.
>

Sights, Sounds and Smells

Anderson, who released a memoir, \"The Ordinary Spaceman,\" earlier this month, said after being in the sterile environment of space, everything has a sharper smell when returning to Earth.

\"I craved smelling fresh cut grass and the sounds of birds chirping in the trees and animals barking,\" he said. \"It was amazing to me the things I missed and how acute those senses are when you first come home.\"

After his dizzying return home, Wheelock said a big meal wasn't the first item he enjoyed. Instead, it was the simple smell of \"Earthiness.\"

\"Your sense of smell and taste are dulled in space. I craved the aroma of leaves and grass and flowers and trees,\" he said. \"These things are not present on the space station. When you get back to Earth they are literally intoxicating.\"

ABC News' Gillian Mohney contributed to this report.

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