Hadfield, Chris (1959-…), in 2013 became the first Canadian astronaut to command the International Space Station (ISS). Hadfield was also the first Canadian to walk in space, working outside the station in an extravehicular activity (EVA) in 2001.
Hadfield joined the Canadian Space Agency in 1992. He trained in Houston with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to fly on the United States space shuttle. Hadfield made his first space flight in 1995 on the shuttle Atlantis. That mission met up in orbit with the Russian space station Mir . Hadfield operated the shuttle’s Canadian-built robotic arm to connect a docking module to the Russian space station. He is the only Canadian ever to have boarded Mir.
In 2001, Hadfield had his second space flight, aboard the shuttle Endeavour. The mission traveled to the International Space Station. There, Hadfield became the first Canadian to walk in space. He wore a spacesuit for two trips outside the ISS to help install the station’s main robotic arm, also built in Canada. In all, he spent 14 hours, 54 minutes in EVA.
On Dec. 19, 2012, Hadfield returned to the ISS in a Russian Soyuz capsule for a five-month stay. He became station commander on March 13, 2013, and continued in that role until returning to Earth on May 13. During his free time on the station, Hadfield recorded himself performing popular songs to entertain fans. Millions of online viewers enjoyed his version of the David Bowie song “Space Oddity” (1969) and its accompanying video.
Hadfield’s career as an astronaut also included several ground assignments. In Houston, he served as NASA’s chief capsule communicator (CAPCOM). The capsule communicator handles voice communications between Mission Control on the ground and orbiting astronauts. Hadfield also served as the NASA director of operations at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. In addition, he completed an undersea assignment as commander of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) habitat on the ocean floor off the coast of Florida. At NEEMO, Hadfield and his crewmates simulated future piloted space missions.
Chris Austin Hadfield was born on Aug. 29, 1959, in Sarnia, Ontario. He grew up on a corn farm in Milton and started flying gliders when he was 15. He attended Canada’s Royal Military College , graduating with honors in mechanical engineering in 1982. Hadfield then gained experience as a fighter pilot for the Royal Canadian Air Force . He attended the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School as part of a pilot-exchange program. In 1992, Hadfield received a Master of Science degree in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee .
Hadfield has written a number of best-selling books, including the autobiography An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth (2013), and The Darkest Dark (2016), a picture book illustrated by Terry and Eric Fan. In 2021, Hadfield published The Apollo Murders, a thriller that tells the story of a fictional Apollo mission during the Cold War .
