Chris Hadfield

Chris Austin Hadfield (born 29 August 1959) is a retired Canadian astronaut who was the first Canadian to walk in space. A former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot, Hadfield has flown two space shuttle missions and served as commander of the International Space Station.

Hadfield, who was raised on a farm in southern Ontario, was inspired as a child when he watched the Apollo moon landing on TV. He attended high school in Oakville and Milton and earned his glider pilot licence as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces and earned an engineering degree at Royal Military College. While in the military he learned to fly various types of aircraft and eventually became a test pilot and flew several experimental planes. As part of an exchange program with the United States Navy and United States Air Force, he obtained a master's degree in aviation systems at the University of Tennessee Space Institute.

In 1992, he was accepted into the Canadian astronaut program by the Canadian Space Agency. He first flew in space aboard STS-74 in November 1995 as a mission specialist. During the mission he visited the Russian space station Mir. In April 2001 he flew again on STS-100 and visited the International Space Station (ISS), where he walked in space and helped to install the Canadarm2. In December 2012 he flew for a third time aboard Soyuz TMA-07M and joined Expedition 34 on the ISS. He was a member of this expedition until March 2013 when he became the commander of the ISS as part of Expedition 35. He was responsible for a crew of five astronauts and helped to run dozens of scientific experiments dealing with the impact of low gravity on human biology. During the mission he also gained popularity by chronicling life aboard the space station and taking pictures of the earth and posting them through Twitter and Facebook to a large following of people around the world. He was a guest on television news and talk shows and gained popularity by playing his guitar in space. His mission ended in May 2013 when he returned to earth. Shortly after returning, he announced his retirement, capping a 35-year career as a military pilot and an astronaut.

Personal life
Hadfield was born in Sarnia, Ontario. His parents are Roger and Eleanor Hadfield, who live in Milton, Ontario. Hadfield was raised on a corn farm in southern Ontario and became interested in flying at a young age and in being an astronaut at age nine when he saw the Apollo 11 moon landing on television. He is married to his high-school girlfriend Helene, and they have three adult children. Hadfield used to be a ski instructor at Glen Eden Ski Area before becoming a test pilot.

Education and military career
Hadfield attended White Oaks Secondary School in Oakville, Ontario until his senior year and then graduated as an Ontario Scholar from Milton District High School in 1977. As a member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, he earned a glider pilot scholarship at age 15 and a powered pilot scholarship at age 16. After graduating from high school in 1978, he joined the Canadian Armed Forces and spent two years at Royal Roads Military College followed by two years at the Royal Military College, where he received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1982. Before graduating, he also underwent basic flight training at CFB Portage la Prairie. In 1983, he took honours as the top graduate from Basic Jet Training at CFB Moose Jaw, and then went on to train as a tactical fighter pilot with 410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron at CFB Cold Lake, flying the Canadair CF-116 Freedom Fighter and the McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet. After completing his fighter training, Hadfield flew CF-18 Hornets with 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron, flying intercept missions for NORAD. He was the first CF-18 pilot to intercept a Soviet Tupolev Tu 95 long-range bomber in the Canadian Arctic.

In the late 1980s, Hadfield attended the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base and served as an exchange officer with the U.S. Navy at Strike Test Directorate at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. His accomplishments from 1989 to 1992 included testing the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet and LTV A-7 Corsair II aircraft; performing research work with NASA on pitch control margin simulation and flight; completing the first military flight of F/A-18 enhanced performance engines; piloting the first flight test of the National Aerospace Plane external burning hydrogen propulsion engine; developing a new handling qualities rating scale for high angle-of-attack test; and participating in the F/A-18 out-of-control recovery test program.

In May 1992, Hadfield graduated with a master's degree in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee Space Institute, where his thesis concerned high-angle attack aerodynamics of the F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet. In total, Hadfield has flown over 70 different types of aircraft.

NASA experience
Hadfield was selected to become one of four new Canadian astronauts from a field of 5,330 applicants in June 1992. Three of those four (Dafydd Williams, Julie Payette and Hadfield) have flown in space. He was assigned by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in August, where he addressed technical and safety issues for Shuttle Operations Development, contributed to the development of the glass shuttle cockpit, and supported shuttle launches at the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida. In addition, Hadfield was NASA's Chief CAPCOM, the voice of mission control to astronauts in orbit, for 25 space shuttle missions. From 1996 to 2000, he represented CSA astronauts and coordinated their activities as the Chief Astronaut for the CSA.

He was the Director of Operations for NASA at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center (GCTC) in Star City, Russia from 2001 until 2003. Some of his duties included coordination and direction of all International Space Station crew activities in Russia, oversight of training and crew support staff, as well as policy negotiation with the Russian Space Program and other International Partners. He also trained and became fully qualified to be a flight engineer cosmonaut in the Soyuz TMA spacecraft, and to perform spacewalks in the Russian Orlan spacesuit.

Hadfield is a civilian ISI astronaut, having retired as a colonel from the Canadian Armed Forces in 2003 after 25 years of military service. He was Chief of Robotics for the NASA Astronaut Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas from 2003–2006 and was Chief of International Space Station Operations from 2006–2008. In 2008 and 2009, he trained as a back-up to Robert Thirsk on the Expedition 21 mission. In May 2010, Hadfield served as the commander of the NEEMO 14 mission aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory, living and working underwater for fourteen days. NASA announced in 2010 that Hadfield would become the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station, leading Expedition 35 after its launch on 19 December 2012. His craft docked with the station on 21 December. He remained on the station for five months, transferring control to Pavel Vinogradov and departing on 13 May 2013.

In June 2013, one month after completing his third trip to space, Hadfield announced his retirement from the Canadian Space Agency, effective 3 July 2013. Hadfield stated that after living primarily in the United States since the 1980s for his career, he would be moving back to Canada, "making good on a promise I made my wife nearly 30 years ago — that yes, eventually, we would be moving back to Canada." He noted that he plans to pursue private interests outside of government there.

Hadfield is enthusiastic about the prospects for a manned mission to Mars, and when asked in 2011 if he would consider a one-way journey to Mars to be the first to visit, he said "I would be honoured to be given the opportunity."

STS-74
Hadfield served as Mission Specialist 1 on STS-74 in November 1995. It was NASA's second space shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. During the flight, the crew of Space Shuttle Atlantis attached a five-tonne docking module to Mir and transferred over 1,000 kg of food, water, and scientific supplies to the cosmonauts. Hadfield flew as the first Canadian to operate the Canadarm in orbit, and the only Canadian ever to board Mir.

STS-100
In April 2001, Hadfield served as Mission Specialist 1 on STS-100, International Space Station (ISS) assembly Flight 6A. The crew of Space Shuttle Endeavour delivered and installed Canadarm2, the new Canadian-built robotic arm, as well as the Italian-made resupply module Raffaello. During the 11-day flight, Hadfield performed two spacewalks, which made him the first Canadian to ever leave a spacecraft and float freely in space. During his first spacewalk Hadfield experienced a life-threatening lithium hydroxide leak in his spacesuit, forcing him to vent oxygen into space. In total, Hadfield spent 14 hours, 50 minutes outside, travelling 10 times around the world during his spacewalk.

International Space Station
On 19 December 2012, Hadfield launched in the Soyuz TMA-07M flight for a long duration stay on board the ISS as part of Expedition 35. He arrived at the station two days later, as scheduled, and became the first Canadian to command the ISS when the crew of Expedition 34 departed in March 2013. On 12 May 2013 he turned over command of the ISS, and returned home aboard the Soyuz spacecraft on 13 May. He received significant media exposure during his time on the ISS, and ended his time on the station by paying tribute to David Bowie with a rendition of "Space Oddity".

Social media
Hadfield was described as "perhaps the most social media savvy astronaut ever to leave Earth" by Forbes after building a considerable audience on social media, including over 1,000,000 Twitter followers, and creating one of the top Reddit AmA threads of all time. He also has a popular Tumblr blog. His exchanges with William Shatner and other Star Trek actors received media coverage. Hadfield has enlisted the help of his web-savvy sons Evan and Kyle to manage his social media presence.

Music
During his free time on Expedition 35, Hadfield recorded music for an album, using the Larrivée Parlor guitar previously brought to the ISS. The first song recorded in space, Jewel in the Night, was released via YouTube on Christmas Eve 2012. His collaboration with Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies and the Wexford Gleeks, Is Somebody Singing? (sometimes shortened I.S.S.), was aired on the CBC Radio program Q and released by CBC Music online on 8 February 2013. Hadfield sang Is Somebody Singing along with singers across Canada for the national Music Monday program. Hadfield has been credited musically on his brother Dave Hadfield's albums.

On 12 May 2013, after handing over command of the ISS, but before returning home, Hadfield released a music video recorded on the ISS of a modified rendition of "Space Oddity" by David Bowie. The video has had several million views on YouTube. The performance was the subject of a piece by Glenn Fleishman in The Economist on 22 May 2013 analyzing the legal implications of publicly performing a copyrighted work of music while in earth orbit.

Post-retirement
In October of 2013 Hadfield was interviewed by Maclean's Magazine and appeared on its cover good-naturedly agreeing to their request that he let them apply face make-up to "replicate Bowie's famed image from the cover of his Aladdin Sane album."

On 8 October 2013 the University of Waterloo announced that Hadfield will join the university as a professor for a three-year term beginning in the Fall of 2014. Hadfield's work is expected to involve instructing and advising roles in aviation programs offered by the Faculty of Environment and Faculty of Science, as well as assisting in ongoing research regarding the health of astronauts with the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences.

Special honours and affiliations
Hadfield is the recipient of numerous awards and special honours. These include appointment to the Order of Ontario in 1996, receipt of the Vanier Award in 2001, NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 2002, the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. He is also the only Canadian to have received both a military and civilian Meritorious Service Cross, the military medal in 2001 and the civilian one in 2013. In 1988, Hadfield was granted the Liethen-Tittle Award (top pilot graduate of the USAF Test Pilot School) and was named US Navy Test Pilot of the Year in 1991. He was inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 2005 and Commemorated on Royal Canadian Mint silver and gold coins for his spacewalk to install Canadarm2 on the International Space Station in 2001. Further, the Royal Military College granted Hadfield an honorary Doctorate of Engineering in 1996 and he was presented with an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Trent University three years later. In 2013, Hadfield was presented with an Honorary Diploma from Nova Scotia Community College. Upon his taking command of the International Space Station, Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, sent Hadfield a personal message of congratulations, stating "I am pleased to transmit my personal best wishes, and those of all Canadians, to Colonel Christopher Hadfield as he takes command of the International Space Station..."

His affiliations include the membership in the Royal Military College Club, Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute and serving as honorary patron of Lambton College, former trustee of Lakefield College School, board member of the International Space School Foundation, and executive with the Association of Space Explorers.

In Sarnia, the city airport was renamed to Sarnia Chris Hadfield Airport in 1997 and he has two public schools named after him - one in Milton, Ontario and the other in Bradford, Ontario. Asteroid 14143 Hadfield is also named after him.