Chris Hadfield | |
|---|---|
 Hadfield in July 2011 | |
| Born | Chris Austin Hadfield (1959-08-29)August 29, 1959 (age 66) |
| Education | |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards |
|
| Space career | |
| CSA astronaut | |
Time in space | 165 days, 16 hours, 18 minutes |
| Selection | 1992 CSA Group NASA Group 14 (1992) |
TotalEVAs | 2 |
Total EVA time | 14 hours, 50 minutes |
| Missions | |
Mission insignia |     |
| Retirement | July 3, 2013 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  Canada |
| Branch |  Air Command |
| Years of service | 1978–2003 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Website | chrishadfield |
Chris Austin Hadfield (born August 29, 1959) is a Canadian retiredastronaut, engineer,fighter pilot, musician, and writer. As the first Canadian to performextravehicular activity inouter space, he has flown twoSpace Shuttle missions and also served as commander of theInternational Space Station (ISS). Prior to his career as an astronaut, he served in theCanadian Armed Forces for 25 years as anAir Command fighter pilot.
Hadfield has cited part of his career inspiration to have come to him as a child, when he watched the firstcrewed Moon landing by American spaceflightApollo 11 on television. He attended high school inOakville andMilton insouthern Ontario, and earned hisglider pilot licence as a member of theRoyal Canadian Air Cadets. After enlisting in the Canadian Armed Forces, he earned an engineering degree at theRoyal Military College inKingston, Ontario. Hadfield learned to fly various types of aircraft in the military and eventually became atest pilot, flying several experimental planes. As part of an exchange program with theUnited States Navy andUnited States Air Force, he obtained a master's degree in aviation systems at theUniversity of Tennessee Space Institute.
In 1992, Hadfield was accepted into theCanadian astronaut program by theCanadian Space Agency. He first flew in space in November 1995 as a mission specialist aboardSTS-74, visiting the Russian space stationMir. He flew again in April 2001 onSTS-100, when he visited the ISS and walked in space to help installCanadarm2. In December 2012, he flew for a third time aboardSoyuz TMA-07M to joinExpedition 34 on the ISS. When Expedition 34 ended in March 2013, Hadfield became the commander of the ISS as part ofExpedition 35, responsible for a crew of five astronauts and helping to run dozens of scientific experiments dealing with the impact of low gravity on human biology. During this mission, he chronicled life onboard the space station by taking pictures ofEarth and posting them on various social media platforms. He was a guest on television news and talk shows and gained popularity by playing the ISS's guitar in space. Hadfield returned to Earth in May 2013, when the mission ended. He announced his retirement shortly after returning, capping a 35-year-long career as a military pilot and astronaut. He has five published books including his autobiography, the NYT-bestsellerAn Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth.
Hadfield was born inSarnia,Ontario. His parents are Roger and Eleanor Hadfield, who live inMilton, Ontario. Hadfield was raised on a corn farm insouthern Ontario. He was a member of aWolf Cub Pack that met at the Milton Fairgrounds.[1] He became interested inflying at a young age and in being an astronaut at age nine, when he saw theApollo 11 Moon landing on television.[2][3] On December 23, 1981, inWaterloo, Ontario, Hadfield married his high-school girlfriend Helene Hadfield (née Walter), with whom he has three children: Kyle, Evan, and Kristin Hadfield.[4][5] Hadfield used to be a ski instructor atGlen Eden Ski Area[6] before becoming atest pilot.[7][8]
Hadfield is of northernEnglish and southernScottish descent.[9] He is a devoted fan of theToronto Maple Leafs, and wore a Leafs jersey under his spacesuit during hisSoyuz TMA-07M re-entry in May 2013.[10] After the2012–13 NHL lockout ended, Hadfield tweeted a photo of himself holding a Maple Leafs logo, and stated he was "ready to cheer [his team] on from orbit".[11] He sang theCanadian National Anthem during the Toronto Maple Leafs andMontreal Canadiens game on January 18, 2014, at theAir Canada Centre inToronto, Ontario.[12] In November 2022, he was invited by coachJohn Herdman to speak to theCanada soccer team ahead of their first match in theFIFA World Cup in Qatar.[13]
Hadfield attendedWhite Oaks Secondary School inOakville, Ontario, until his senior year and then graduated as anOntario Scholar fromMilton District High School in 1977. As a member of theRoyal 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 theCanadian Armed Forces and spent two years atRoyal Roads Military College followed by two years at theRoyal Military College of Canada, where he received aB.Eng. degree (with honours) inmechanical engineering in 1982.[2] He also conducted his post-graduate research at theUniversity of Waterloo in 1982.[14] Before graduating, he also underwent basic flight training atCFB Portage la Prairie. In 1983, he took honours as the top graduate from Basic Jet Training atCFB Moose Jaw, and then went on to train as a tactical fighter pilot with410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron atCFB Cold Lake, flying theCanadair CF-116 Freedom Fighter and theMcDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet. After completing his fighter training, Hadfield flew CF-18 Hornets with425 Tactical Fighter Squadron, flying intercept missions forNORAD. He was the first CF-18 pilot to intercept a SovietTupolev Tu 95 long-range bomber in the Canadian Arctic.[7]
In the late 1980s, Hadfield attended theU.S. Air Force Test Pilot School atEdwards Air Force Base and served as an exchange officer with theU.S. Navy at Strike Test Directorate at thePatuxent River Naval Air Station. His accomplishments from 1989 to 1992 included testing theMcDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet andLTV 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 theNational 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.[7]
In May 1992, Hadfield graduated with anM.Sc. degree inaviation systems from theUniversity of Tennessee Space Institute, where his thesis concerned high-angle attack aerodynamics of the F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet.[8] In total, Hadfield has flown over 70 different types of aircraft.[7]
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. The fourth candidate,Michael McKay, resigned as an astronaut in 1995.[15] Hadfield was assigned by the CSA to theNASAJohnson Space Center inHouston, Texas in August, where he addressed technical and safety issues for Shuttle Operations Development, contributed to the development of theglass shuttle cockpit, and supported shuttle launches at theKennedy Space Center, in Florida. In addition, Hadfield was NASA's chiefCAPCOM (capsule communicator), the voice of mission control to astronauts in orbit, for 25Space Shuttle missions. From 1996 to 2000, he represented CSA astronauts and coordinated their activities as the chief astronaut for the CSA.[7]
He was the director of operations for NASA at theYuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) inStar City, Russia from 2001 until 2003. Some of his duties included co-ordination and direction of allInternational 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 theRussian Orlan spacesuit.[7]
Hadfield is a civilian CSA 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 to 2006 and was chief of International Space Station Operations from 2006 to 2008.[7] In 2008 and 2009, he trained as a back-up toRobert Thirsk onExpedition 21.[16] In May 2010, Hadfield served as the commander of theNEEMO 14 mission aboard theAquariusunderwater laboratory, living and working underwater for fourteen days.[17][18] NASA announced in 2010 that Hadfield would become the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station, leadingExpedition 35 after its launch on December 19, 2012.[19] His craft docked with the station on December 21. He remained on the station for five months, transferring control toPavel Vinogradov and departing on May 13, 2013.[20]
In June 2013, one month after completing his third trip to space, Hadfield announced his retirement from the Canadian Space Agency, effective July 3, 2013.[21] 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."[21] He noted that he plans to pursue private interests outside government there.[21]
Hadfield is enthusiastic about the prospects for a crewed mission to Mars, and when asked in 2011 if he would consider being the first to visit even if the journey to Mars were one-way, he said "I would be honoured to be given the opportunity."[22]
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 StationMir. During the flight, the crew ofSpace ShuttleAtlantis attached a five-tonne docking module toMir and transferred over 1,000 kg of food, water, and scientific supplies to the cosmonauts. Hadfield flew as the first Canadian to operate theCanadarm in orbit, and the only Canadian ever to boardMir.[7]
In April 2001, Hadfield served as mission specialist 1 on STS-100, International Space Station (ISS) assembly Flight 6A. The crew ofSpace ShuttleEndeavour delivered and installedCanadarm2, the new Canadian-built robotic arm, as well as the Italian-made resupply moduleRaffaello. 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 severe eye irritation due to the anti-fog solution used to polish his spacesuit visor, temporarily blinding him and 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.[7][23]
On December 19, 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,[24] and became the first Canadian to command the ISS when the crew of Expedition 34 departed in March 2013.[7] On May 12, 2013, he turned over command of the ISS, and returned home aboard theSoyuz spacecraft on May 13.[25] He received significant media exposure during his time on the ISS, and ended his time on the station by paying tribute toDavid Bowie with a rendition of "Space Oddity".[26]
Hadfield has a social media presence, with over 2,400,000 Twitter followers as of August 2019[update].[27] He created one of the topReddit ask me anything (AMA) threads of all time on February 17, 2013.[28] He also maintains accounts on Facebook,[29] Tumblr,[30] and YouTube.[31] His exchanges withWilliam Shatner and otherStar Trek actors have received media coverage.[32] Hadfield has been described by Forbes as "perhaps the most social media savvy astronaut ever to leave Earth".[28]
Hadfield enlisted the help of his son Evan to manage his social media presence. They work in tandem to share information over the internet about aspects of life as an astronaut, both the scientific and the mundane.[33][34]
During his free time onExpedition 35, Hadfield recorded music for an album, using theLarrivée Parlor guitar previously brought to the ISS.[35] The first song recorded in space, "Jewel in the Night", was released via YouTube on Christmas Eve 2012.[36][37]
His collaboration withEd Robertson ofBarenaked Ladies and the Wexford Gleeks,Is Somebody Singing?—sometimes shortenedI.S.S.—was aired on theCBC Radio programQ and released byCBC Music online on February 8, 2013.[38] Hadfield sangIs Somebody Singing along with singers across Canada for the national Music Monday program.[39][40] Hadfield has been credited musically on his brotherDave Hadfield's albums. He also sang the "Canada Song" with his brother, released on YouTube onCanada Day, 2014.[41]
On May 12, 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" byDavid Bowie.[42][43] As of February 2025[update], the video has over 55 million views on YouTube.[42] The performance was the subject of a piece by Glenn Fleishman inThe Economist on May 22, 2013, analysing the legal implications of publicly performing a copyrighted work of music while inEarth orbit.[44]
In October 2015, Hadfield releasedSpace Sessions: Songs From a Tin Can, an album of songs that he had recorded on the International Space Station.[45]
In October 2013 Hadfield was interviewed byMaclean's magazine and appeared on its cover wearing face make-up to "replicateBowie's famed image from the cover of hisAladdin Sane album."[46] Hadfield wrote an article for the December 2013 edition ofWired magazine in which he reflects on his time spent on the International Space Station.[47]
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On October 8, 2013, theUniversity 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 was expected to involve instructing and advising roles in aviation programs offered by theFaculty of Environment andFaculty of Science, as well as assisting in ongoing research regarding the health of astronauts with theFaculty of Applied Health Sciences.[48]
In 2017, Hadfield hosted theBBC showAstronauts: Do You Have What It Takes? alongsideKevin Fong and Iya Whiteley, where 12 contestants compete to earn Hadfield's approval and recommendation as a candidate for future applications to become an astronaut.[49] The challenges involved replicated real tests carried out by the different Space Agencies at facilities in Europe and America, includinghypoxia andcentrifuge training, with contestants eliminated each week.
Hadfield hosted a web series about space exploration on the video platformMasterClass.[50][51]
On February 9, 2021,Virgin Galactic announced that Hadfield would be joining their Space Advisory Board to help "provide advice to senior management as the company moves forward to open space for the benefit of all."[52] Hadfield will be joined by former astronautSandra Magnus and Chief Scientist ofCubic CorporationDavid A. Whelan.
Hadfield's 2013 autobiography,An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything[3] deals with his professional life and work, and with numerous examples from the lead-up to his command of Expedition 35.[53] The book was aNew York Times bestseller[54] and was also the bestselling book in Canada on a Canadian subject.[55]
In 2021, Hadfield released his debut novelThe Apollo Murders, a thriller set in theCold War. A sequel entitledThe Defector, was released in 2023.[56]
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Hadfield is the recipient of numerous awards and special honours. These include appointment to theOrder of Ontario in 1996,[57] as anOfficer of the Order of Canada in 2014,[58] receipt of the Vanier Award in 2001,NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 2002, theQueen's Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002, and theQueen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. He is also the only Canadian to have received both a military and civilianMeritorious Service Cross, the military medal in 2001 and the civilian one in 2013.[59]
In 1988, Hadfield was granted the Liethen-Tittle Award (top pilot graduate of theUSAF Test Pilot School) and was named US Navy Test Pilot of the Year in 1991. He was inducted into Canada'sAviation Hall of Fame in 2005. Eleven years later, he was recognized as a Genius 100 Visionary[60] and contributed his vision of the future in the 3D publishing milestone '"Genius: 100 Visions of the Future."'[61] Further, the Royal Military College granted Hadfield an honorary Doctorate of Engineering in 1996 and he was presented with an honorary Doctorate of Laws fromTrent University three years later. In 2013, Hadfield was presented with an Honorary Diploma fromNova Scotia Community College.[62]
Hadfield was commemorated onRoyal Canadian Mint silver and gold coins for his spacewalk to installCanadarm2 on theInternational Space Station in 2001.[7] InSarnia, the city airport was renamed toSarnia Chris Hadfield Airport in 1997[63] and there are two public schools named after him – one in Milton, Ontario, and the other in Bradford, Ontario.[64][65] The asteroid14143 Hadfield is also named after him. In 2005, theRoyal Canadian Air Cadets 820 Milton Blue Thunder Squadron was renamed as the 820 Chris Hadfield Squadron in honour of Hadfield, who was a cadet there from 1971 to 1978.[66] The Town of Milton also named a municipal park and street after Hadfield.[67] His name was in 2014 added to the Wall of Honour at theRoyal Military College of Canada inKingston, Ontario,[68] and, in 2020, the newly discoveredAndrena hadfieldi, a species of bee, was named in his honour.[69]
His affiliations include membership in the Royal Military College Club,Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute, and serving as honorary patron ofLambton College, former trustee ofLakefield College School, board member of the International Space School Foundation, and executive with the Association of Space Explorers.
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".[70] Elizabeth's successor,Charles III, held an audience with Hadfield atBuckingham Palace on February 9, 2023, to discuss sustainability in space.[71]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAN [72] | |||
| Space Sessions: Songs From A Tin Can |
| 10[73] |
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "So Easy" | 2014 | Emm Gryner | Torrential |
| "Re-Entry" | 2021 | TWRP | New & Improved |
Hadfield also participates as a vocalist and guitarist for theastronaut band Max Q.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Hadfield has since retired as astronaut, but he recently shared some of his spaceflight knowledge as part of a new web course on the online education platform MasterClass.
| Preceded by | ISS Expedition Commander March 13 to May 13, 2013 | Succeeded by |
NASA Astronaut Group 13 ← NASA Astronaut Group 14 →NASA Astronaut Group 15 | |||||||
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| International mission specialists |
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