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Kim Binsted

Credit...Scott Nishi/University of Hawaii Foundation

Kim Binsted is the principal investigator on the NASA-sponsored Hi-Seas (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) project, which involves studying people on long-duration mock Mars missions to see how they cope.

READING I’m working my way through the entire “Discworld” series by the late, great Terry Pratchett. I’ve read them all before, some several times, but his recent death last year inspired me to revisit them, this time in order. Discworld is this satirical fantasy world where the world is flat and it rests on the back of four elephants, which rest on the back of a giant turtle, which is swimming through the universe. The books are super funny and lovely light reads — my comfort food of books.

LISTENING I’m trying to get back in shape so I’m listening to the audiobook “Seveneves” by Neal Stephenson only when I go to the gym. It’s motivating because the premise is the moon blows up and in two years all the bits of leftover Moon will fall to Earth and the surface of the Earth will be utterly destroyed. So it’s about trying to figure out what to do next.

And I’m listening to Alexa, my Amazon Echo, which/whom I adore. You can listen to music or books or she will add things to your grocery list, tell you the time or tell you a joke. But if you aren’t careful she will hear something you say and order it for you from Amazon.

WATCHING Must I be honest? I’m somewhat guiltily binge-watching “Outlander.” It’s kind of a bodice-ripping romance, which is not usually my cup of tea. But it has a light dusting of time travel, which is my cup of tea.

I’m also eyeing my ice-cream-banana tree. It has finally produced fruit after several years. They are these little fat bananas, and they are super soft. So the way to eat them is stick them in the freezer. And when they are frozen you just eat them with a spoon like banana ice cream. They are so awesome.

FOLLOWING My morning read is always Savage Love. There’s something about reading about other people’s messed-up love lives that puts me in the right place to start the day. I also follow The Bloggess. Hers was one of the first blogs to really take off. She’s really funny and she’s also been quite open about her mental illness and anxiety disorder. For keeping up with popular culture, I like the A.V. Club. It has a light tone and the community there is really nice. It feels very social.

DRESSING My dog, Cosmo, has more outfits than I do, no question. I’m embarrassed to tell you this but I actually ordered a kilt for him from a dog tailor in Scotland. He’s got a Darth Vader outfit, and a knight in shining armor costume and a rocket dog costume. And you know something? No one believes me, but he loves to dress up. When I open the drawer that his outfits are in, he runs over with his tail wagging. He’s like, “Woohoo! Time to dress up!”

A correction was made on 
May 15, 2016

A Download column about the NASA investigator Kim Binsted on May 1 misstated the name of Ms. Binsted’s dog. He is named Cosmo, not Cosmos.

How we handle corrections

Kate Murphy is a journalist in Houston who writes frequently for The New York Times.

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A version of this article appears in print on  , Section SR, Page 2 of the New York edition with the headline: Kim Binsted. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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