Chris Hadfield

Chris Austin Hadfield (born August 29, 1959) is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot, musician, and writer.

The first Canadian to perform extravehicular activity in outer space, he has flown two Space Shuttle missions and also served as commander of the International Space Station (ISS).

Prior to his career as an astronaut, he served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 25 years as an Air Command fighter pilot.

Hadfield has cited part of his career inspiration to have come to him as a child, when he watched the first crewed Moon landing by American spaceflight Apollo 11 on television.

He attended high school in Oakville and Milton in southern Ontario, and earned his glider pilot licence as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.

After enlisting in the Canadian Armed Forces, he earned an engineering degree at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario.

Hadfield learned to fly various types of aircraft in the military and eventually became a test pilot, flying 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.

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 of Canada, where he received a B.Eng. degree (with honours) in mechanical engineering in 1982.

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.

On December 23, 1981, in Waterloo, Ontario, Hadfield married his high-school girlfriend Helene Hadfield (née Walter), with whom he has three children: Kyle, Evan, and Kristin Hadfield.

Hadfield used to be a ski instructor at Glen Eden Ski Area before becoming a test pilot.

Hadfield is of northern English and southern Scottish descent.

He also conducted his post-graduate research at the University of Waterloo 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.

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 1992, Hadfield was accepted into the Canadian astronaut program by the Canadian Space Agency.

He first flew in space in November 1995 as a mission specialist aboard STS-74, visiting the Russian space station Mir.

He flew again in April 2001 on STS-100, when he visited the ISS and walked in space to help install Canadarm2.

In December 2012, he flew for a third time aboard Soyuz TMA-07M to join Expedition 34 on the ISS.

After the 2012–13 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".

When Expedition 34 ended in March 2013, Hadfield became the commander of the ISS as part of Expedition 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 of Earth 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-bestseller An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth.

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.

He was a member of a Wolf Cub Pack that met at the Milton Fairgrounds.

He 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 a devoted fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and wore a Leafs jersey under his spacesuit during his Soyuz TMA-07M re-entry in May 2013.

He sang the Canadian National Anthem during the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens game on January 18, 2014, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.

In November 2022, he was invited by coach John Herdman to speak to the Canada soccer team ahead of their first match in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.