August the 5th, 2022 - There are celebrity sightings all along the Croatian coast during the summer months, and NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn has paid a visit to Istria's popular Damjanic winery.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, after returning from the impressive 66th expedition beyond the Earth's atmosphere, NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn decided to visit Istria, which seemed look like the most beautiful place on earth from space in his opinion. During his tour of the Istrian peninsula, he visited the well known Istrian Damjanic winery, where he tasted a top quality selection of wines and discovered all the secrets of the winemaking of the owner, Ivan Damjanic.

Dr. Thomas H. Marshburn became part of the NASA crew back in 2004, and before becoming an astronaut, Dr. Marshburn served as a flight surgeon, assigned to spacecraft medical operations. Last year, he was the pilot of the NASA SpaceX Crew-3 mission that launched on November the 10th, 2021. It was NASA's 66th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station.

Looking down at planet Earth from space, he was enchanted by the sight of the sun-drenched western coast of the Republic of Croatia. The coast of Istria and Kvarner seemed to him to be one of the most fascinating and dramatic coasts on the entire globe. After the expedition ended, the decision was made that he must visit this perfect place. Istria enchanted him twice, once from space and now with his feet firmly on the ground.

What kind of visit would it be without tasting the best that Istria has to offer? Istrian wines are known for their loyal fans around the world, and the Damjanic winery is among the most well known of them all. Together with his family, Dr. Thomas Marshburn visited the Damjanic winery and tasted the entire selection of their wines. The wines completely delighted him and he has assured that he wasn't wrong about Istria being stunning from space and that he definitely plans on returning.

As a memento and gift, the Damjanic winery was left a signed sticker of the space station ''Route 66'' with a summary of the mission of Expedition 66. The interesting thing behind this sticker is the shape of the American highway shield, the same type of sign that is found along the "historic" route 66 in the USA, which stretches from Chicago, Illinois all the way to Santa Monica in California. On the emblem, Blake Dumesnil, a graphic designer, depicted a road stretching from the station to beyond the Earth's horizon and into deep space as the idea that the journey itself is as important as the destination.

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