Chris Hadfield
Chris Hadfield
Chris Austin Hadfield OC OOnt MSC CDis a retired Canadian astronaut who was the first Canadian to walk in space. An engineer and former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot, Hadfield has flown two space shuttle missions and served as commander of the International Space Station...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionAstronaut
Date of Birth29 August 1959
CitySarnia, Canada
CountryCanada
astronaut canadian possible time
When I was nine, I wanted to be an astronaut but at that time there weren't any Canadian astronauts. You had to be American or Soviet. So many things will be possible in your lifetimes.
life possible
I've put a lot of my life into making it possible to fly in space at all.
belly body floating match throw
When we first get to space, we feel sick. Your body is really confused. You're dizzy. Your lunch is floating around in your belly because you're floating. What you see doesn't match what you feel, and you want to throw up.
shuttle space station stay time
When I did my spacewalks, it was during space station construction. So the shuttle was docked to the fledgling ISS at the time. So we would always stay tethered.
danger deal fear obvious people question somehow turn versus walk watched
I watched the first people walk on the moon, and to me, it was just an obvious thing - I want to somehow turn myself into that. But the real question is, how do you deal with the danger of it and the fear that comes from it? How do you deal with fear versus danger?
accomplish ambition elected exercise intention leadership lots politics using ways
I think there are lots of ways to exercise ambition and accomplish things using leadership without going into elected politics. So, categorically, I have no intention of going into elected politics. None.
born discovered north oil small
I was born in Sarnia, Ontario; a small town, it's where oil was pretty much discovered in North America.
absolute canada general leaders proud space
I think Canada in general should be very proud of our capabilities. We are absolute world leaders in space robotics,
fear
You can get claustrophobia and agoraphobia - a fear of wide, open spaces - simultaneously on a spacewalk.
arm beautiful moving pallet
It's beautiful to see the Big Arm moving the pallet around, ... Big relief.
Cynicism is the easiest of all reactions, right? But it's also so disappointing and self-defeating.
chance everybody gives perspective reference
I've had a chance to see something that is way outside everybody else's frame of reference and gives a perspective that is very different from everyone else's.
covers entire ground thousands took vast
When you look out the window of a spaceship, you see entire countries, vast swaths of continents. One turn of the head covers what once took thousands of years to traverse at ground level.
accident avoid created describe fatal highlights life pilot procedures response save series steps taken word written
'Boldface' is a pilot term, a magic word to describe the procedures that could, in a crisis, save your life. We say that 'boldface is written in blood' because often it's created in response to an accident investigation. It highlights the series of steps that should have been taken to avoid a fatal crash, but weren't.