About Chris Hadfield

  “Chris

Photo Credit: Canadian Space Agency


In 2013, the Canadian astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield captivated the world from the International Space Station (ISS). As he worked in space, he documented his journey and daily life as an astronaut on the space station with social media. He shared breathtaking photos on Twitter and Tumblr.

22 million people watched his famous rendition of David Bowie's "Space Oddity", which he filmed to mark his departure from his final mission.

Chris began his quest for space as a nine-year-old kid growing up in Ontario,  Canada, after seeing the first moon walk on TV. Since his country didn’t even have a space program, he had to find a way to prepare for a career as an astronaut even if it might never happen—by working hard in school, especially in the subjects he would need to know best as a pilot, learning to fly a civilian plane, and eventually entering the Canadian Air Force.

When he finally did become an astronaut after Canada formed a space agency, Col. Hadfield went on to fly to orbit three times, command the International Space Station for five months, and become the first Canadian to walk in space. 

Col. Hadfield spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, and been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft.

The secret to Col. Hadfield's success is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst… and enjoy every moment of it. As he says in the opening of his book, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, “I wasn’t destined to be an astronaut. I had to turn myself into one.”