Cosmonaut Valentin Lebedev kept a detailed diary during his time aboard Salyut 7, describing how the monotony had become so thick he could taste it. He described the station’s hum as something that bored into his skull, the sameness of every waking hour pressing against him like a physical weight. He didn’t reach for a word like “depression” or “anxiety.” He called it boredom. And then, like most ...