We delayed our Something Saturday this week until Monday so that we could attend Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield’s talk with Elizabeth's family!
Colonel Chris Hadfield became a bit of a social media sensation during his time as the Commander of the International Space Station last year. He became well known for his beautiful photographs of the earth from space, and fascinating videos of daily life in zero gravity. But his cover of David Bowie’s Space Oddity was what set him apart and into mainstream media.
His story is inspirational – from the time he was 9 years old, before there were any Canadian astronauts, he dreamed of going into space and did everything in his power to work towards that goal. As part of that plan he joined the air cadets, completed a degree in mechanical engineering, and joined the RCAF, later becoming a test pilot. After he was selected as a Canadian astronaut in 1992 (only 4 people were chosen out of 5330 applicants) and completed extensive training, he flew on the Space Shuttle twice (in 1995 and 2001), worked as Chief of Robotics and Chief CAPCOM with NASA, and was NASA’s Director of Operations in Russia… Just to name a few achievements.
Oh, and he piloted the Soyuz spacecraft to and from the International Space Station where he lived for 5 months in 2012/2013. Basically, the guy is awesome. And his talk didn’t disappoint because, naturally, he also turns out to be a great speaker and talented musician.
His story is inspirational – from the time he was 9 years old, before there were any Canadian astronauts, he dreamed of going into space and did everything in his power to work towards that goal. As part of that plan he joined the air cadets, completed a degree in mechanical engineering, and joined the RCAF, later becoming a test pilot. After he was selected as a Canadian astronaut in 1992 (only 4 people were chosen out of 5330 applicants) and completed extensive training, he flew on the Space Shuttle twice (in 1995 and 2001), worked as Chief of Robotics and Chief CAPCOM with NASA, and was NASA’s Director of Operations in Russia… Just to name a few achievements.
Oh, and he piloted the Soyuz spacecraft to and from the International Space Station where he lived for 5 months in 2012/2013. Basically, the guy is awesome. And his talk didn’t disappoint because, naturally, he also turns out to be a great speaker and talented musician.
(The pictures are slightly sketchy because we weren’t really supposed to take pictures… But we had front row VIP seats, how could we not try to snap a few?!)
Although Chris has done some really cool things in his life, the talk was down to earth. Being an astronaut was Chris’ goal, but it wasn’t going to be “the be all and end all” of his career. Throughout his career, he mainly wanted to make sure that if opportunities arose, he would be prepared to jump in. Many of the topics he addressed in his talk were similar to things he mentioned in his book An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, which Elizabeth read last year, but it was still great to hear about his adventures in person. He focuses on being competent, prepared, and going for your goals.
He captivated the audience with some amazing footage from the International Space Station as well as footage of his launches, and spoke about looking at the earth from above. One of the most amazing things he described was being on a spacewalk outside the ISS as it passed through the Southern Lights!
After the talk, there was an opportunity for questions but unfortunately the host asked Chris a bunch of questions and time ran out before any audience members had the chance to ask anything. That was the only disappointing part, and Chris seemed disappointed too. However, the rest of the event was inspiring / compelling / engaging / impressive / gripping / intriguing, so no complaints!
He captivated the audience with some amazing footage from the International Space Station as well as footage of his launches, and spoke about looking at the earth from above. One of the most amazing things he described was being on a spacewalk outside the ISS as it passed through the Southern Lights!
After the talk, there was an opportunity for questions but unfortunately the host asked Chris a bunch of questions and time ran out before any audience members had the chance to ask anything. That was the only disappointing part, and Chris seemed disappointed too. However, the rest of the event was inspiring / compelling / engaging / impressive / gripping / intriguing, so no complaints!
(Courtesy of Elizabeth's Dad)
