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Canadians. In. Spaaaaaaaaaace!!!!

6K views 51 replies 15 participants last post by  CubaMark 
#1 ·
Chris Hadfield: Canadian Astronaut Says International Space Station A Baby Step For Humankind



One hundred years from now, humans may look back and define early 21st century space exploration as nothing more than a progression of tiny baby steps, says one of Canada's most experienced astronauts.

But for Chris Hadfield, who will be the first Canadian to command the International Space Station in 2013, each of those tiny steps is more like a giant leap forward.

"For us, we're still the baby," said Hadfield. "Those are huge ... we fall down a lot. We're going to bang our head a lot. But we have to take these steps on the way to being able to go farther."

Hadfield will climb aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan this December and for the third time in his career blast into space.

But this voyage will be unlike any other for Hadfield who was born in Sarnia, Ont. and grew up in the community of Milton near Toronto.

He'll remain aboard the space station for six months, performing work that will pave the way for future generations.
When it comes to the future of Canada's space program, Hadfield said this country will continue to co-operate and fly with other nations, trading on the expertise of our astronauts.

"We are doing, especially in the Canadian Space Agency, we are doing our absolute best with every dollar that we're are given to try and get the most return from it. We work hard at it."


(HuffingtonPostCanada)
 
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#2 ·
...aaaand now we have this...

Canada's space station future up in the air

As the heads of major space agencies gather in this country to discuss the future of the International Space Station, Canada has yet to commit itself to remaining involved in the orbiting lab beyond 2015.
some industry players are concerned that, unlike its partners, Canada has not signed on for the period until 2020, the end of the current projected lifespan of the station.

"Not having committed to being on the space station for another five years certainly makes our partners wonder whether we will continue to be part of space at all," said Iain Christie, president of the Neptec Design Group, in a recent interview.

"Europeans, Japanese, Americans, everybody else who is part of the space station has said they have renewed their commitments; Canada has not."
the CSA may be trying to renegotiate its agreement to get more Canadian astronauts up to the station. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield will travel to the ISS for a six-month stay at the end of 2012, but it's not clear when another Canadian will follow. There are no flights — beyond Hadfield — scheduled for Canadians before the end of the decade.
(CBC)
 
#4 · (Edited)
Gotta give credit to Cmdr. Chris Hadfield - can you think of anyone in Canada (or dare I say the USA) who has given such panache to humans in space recently? Julie Payette, Marc Garneau - they're household names (?) in Canada. But after Hadfield's excellent use of social media (Twitter), his posting of photos of the earth via the same, and now today's great live singalong from orbit - man, the next ISS Commander has gotta be thinking how he's going to follow that act! :D

Chris Hadfield to lead huge singalong from space today



International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield will lead a high-tech concert Monday, joining thousands of young voices from around the world — with his own voice from space.

Students, musicians and other participants across Canada and as far away as Singapore and Australia will sing along with Hadfield, belting out ISS — Is Somebody Singing, the song Hadfield co-wrote with Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies, to celebrate the ninth edition Music Monday, an annual celebration put on by the Coalition for Music Education.​

(CBC)

The song was originally recorded in February - here's the video of that recording:

+ YouTube Video
ERROR: If you can see this, then YouTube is down or you don't have Flash installed.
 
#8 ·
He's actually got a pretty good voice; I'm sure it's been auto-tuned and otherwise processed extensively, but still, he sounds a lot better than most current pop-stars.
Well that's a bit of hyperbole...

But he did a very respectable job. I like the way at the end of the video he cruises down the chamber grabs his guitar and then launches himself up into another chamber. Very cool.
 
#9 ·
From the Official David Bowie Facebook page:

It’s possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created and you may recognise the name of one of those involved in its creation.

We’re talking about Chris's fellow Canadian, the lovely Emm Gryner, who was a part of the Bowie live band in 1999/2000. Here’s what she said on her blog regarding her involvement:

“The task was in front of me. I came up with a piano part. i then enlisted my friend, producer and fellow Canadian Joe Corcoran to take my piano idea and Chris' vocal and blow it up into a fully produced song. Drums! mellotrons! fuzz bass! We also incorporated into the track ambient space station noises which Chris had put on his Soundcloud. I was mostly blown away by how pure and earnest Chris' singing is on this track. Like weightlessness and his voice agreed to agree.

And voila! And astronaut sings Space Oddity in space! I was so honoured to be asked to be a part of this. You wouldn't get too many chances to make a recording like this and not only that, to make music with someone who - through his vibrant communications with kids in schools to his breathtaking photos to his always patient and good-humoured demeanour - has done more for science and space than anyone else this generation. Planet earth IS blue, and there's nothing left for Chris Hadfield to do. Right. Safe travels home Commander! ”​

I did a quick search for a comment from Bowie on this cover, but nothing so far... :)
However... whoever handles Bowie's FB and website certainly seem pleased to promote it. Chris' rendition of Space Oddity is also featured on Bowie's website!
 
#10 ·
after watching that video with the kids.. [ they are really thrilled about space ] I assume that was the goal, get future generations involved..
:)
 
#13 ·
They're on the ground - and the Soyuz landed upright (pretty nice landing, that). Ground crew is approaching - they'll soon extract the astronauts and take them to medical, then fly on to base. The first Canadian Commander of the ISS is back on terra firma!
 
#14 ·
Watched the landing ............ :clap::clap::clap::clap:

Well done ................ :clap::clap::clap::)
 
#15 ·
Landing was crude and extraction reminded me of child birth
But exciting LOL
 
#22 ·
screature: tough audience, jeez!

How 'bout this?

Hadfield comes home to $1.37 million Rogers phone bill



After five months in space, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield was shocked to discover his cell phone provider has charged him well over a million dollars for data usage and roaming charges while he was in space.

“This is ridiculous,” said the 53 year-old who recently commanded the International Space Station and a proud owner of an iPhone 5. “I only Instagrammed a few hundred pictures of the sun coming up over the Sahara Desert and a thunderstorm over the Pacific Ocean, posted my videos of me eating in space a few dozen times on Twitter and watched a few YouTube videos of goats that sound like humans and that’s it!”
(TheBeaverton)
 
#25 ·
#23 ·
Wonder if CH's parents will have to foot this bill for their son? We shall see.
 
#28 ·
Earlier today I was reading a story on Chris Hadfield's return to earth... apparently, once they got him out of the capsule (the last of the 3 astronauts) and into a chair, NASA gave him a telephone and connected him with his wife. The first two questions were: "How are you?" and "How'd the Leafs do?" :D He was wearing a Leafs shirt under his uniform. Once informed that the Leafs choked, he said (paraphrasing): "So you can say that both of us went down in flames together" What a kidder!

 
#30 ·
The earth-bound effects of this man seem to have no limits!

Vancouver Link To Hadfield's Space Guitar

A Vancouver company says it will re-start production of a guitar used by Chris Hadfield in space, prompting dozens of new orders.

The Canadian astronaut gained worldwide attention when he performed David Bowie's Space Oddity while playing a Vancouver-made Larrivee guitar, in a farewell to the International Space Station.
Larrivee had stopped making that model, but now plans to bring it back into production.

Since announcing a limited run of replicas last week, the company has already taken orders worth $100,000,
(HuffingtonPost)
 
#33 ·
Good to see that Chris is still getting the attention he deserves back on planet Earth....



After Chris Hadfield’s command of the International Space Station made him a global celebrity, Maclean’s thought it was only appropriate to give the astronaut the rock-star treatment during our recent cover photo shoot.

Taking inspiration from Hadfield’s world-uniting rendition of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, photographer Christopher Wahl asked the astronaut to replicate Bowie’s famed image from the cover of his Aladdin Sane album.
 
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