Table of contents
- The singing Canadian
- Spaceflights
- Bibliography
- Space Oddity
The singing Canadian
Chris Austin Hadfield was born on August 29, 1959, in Canada. As a child, he watched the Apollo 11 moon landing and it inspired him to also become an astronaut. At the time Canada had no space program, so Hadfield joined the Royal Canadian Air Forces and served as a fighter pilot for 25 years.
In 1992, Hadfield was accepted into the Canadian astronaut program by the Canadian Space Agency. He flew his first mission to the Russian Mir space station in 1995 aboard the Atlantis space shuttle. Six years later onboard the Endeavour space shuttle he flew to the International Space Station. He revisited the ISS in 2012 flying a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and taking command over the station during Expedition 34/35.
Hadfield was most recognised by the general public for his rendition of the famous Space Oddity song by David Bowie which he recorded onboard the International Space Station. He also recorded numerous educational materials for schools while working in orbit. After his retirement from the astronaut service, he wrote three books based on his experience.
Spaceflights
Hadfield flew to space thrice. He also performed two EVAs (Extra-vehicular activity, a spacewalk) that lasted together for 14 hours 53 minutes and 38 seconds.
| Flight | Date | Spacecraft | Function | Emblem |
| STS-74 | 12-20.11.1995 | Atlantis | Mission Specialist |  |
| STS-100 | 19.04.2001-01.05.2001 | Endeavour | Mission Specialist |  |
| Expedition 34/35 | 19.12.2012-14.05.2013 | Soyuz TMA-07M | ISS Commander |  |
Bibliography
- An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything. Little, Brown and Company, 2013
- You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes: Photographs from the International Space Station. Little, Brown and Company, 2014
- The Darkest Dark. Illustrated by Terry and Eric Fan. Little, Brown and Company, 2016
- The Apollo Murders Random House, 2021
Space Oddity
The rendition of Space Oddity by Chris Hadfield, shot in 2013 was the first ever music video shot in space.
The only reason Chris Hadfield isn’t the coolest guy on Earth is that he’s not on Earth
A comment by August Vctjuh on YouTube.