Fwd: Hadfield: Space experience 'magic'

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: September 2, 2013 11:06:19 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Hadfield: Space experience 'magic'

 

 

 

      Sep. 2, 2013

Hadfield: Space experience 'magic'

Retired astronaut shares rare perspective on being weightless
Written by
Todd Halvorson
FLORIDA TODAY

Chris Hadfield plays the guitar on the International Space Station. / NASA

oh, canada

The former Soviet Union and the U.S. were the first two countries in space. The third country: Canada.
Canada's Alouette satellite was launched in 1962, and since then, the nation has played key roles in space exploration. Canada also designed and built the shuttle's robot arm and the robotic arm used to erect the International Space Station.
This week, Canada officially launches an exhibition at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Dubbed Canada-In-Space: NASA's Enduring Partner, the photo exhibit is a 50-year retrospective of Canadian exploits in space.

Chris Hadfield could arguably be the solar system's coolest Canadian, a charismatic astronaut and social media superstar with one million Twitter followers and almost 500,000 likes on his Facebook page.

This year, at age 53, Hadfield became the first Canadian to command the International Space Station. He is the only Canadian to fly aboard the ISS and Russia's former Mir space station.

He flew aboard the shuttle orbiters Atlantis and Endeavour and is a veteran spacewalker.

Also on his resume: Decorated military fighter pilot. Mechanical engineer. Aquanaut. Visual artist and accomplished musician.

Hadfield is one of those rare engineers whose eloquence matches his mechanical aptitude. FLORIDA TODAY recently chatted with Hadfield about space exploration and life in orbit.

Q: What it's like to be weightless — to be able to fly like Superman?

A: It's magic. It is like having a superpower. ... It immediately turns you into Superwoman or Superman, and you can fly. You can touch the wall and do a hundred somersaults. You can move a refrigerator around with your fingertips. You can float. It is instantaneous, permanent magic the whole time you're up there. ... It is one of THE great joys of spaceflight, being forever weightless.

Q: What is the view of Earth like from the space station?

A: If there was ever a place that lets us see ourselves, that lets us see the world, that lets us see our place in the world, the space station surely is that. ... It's beautiful, and interesting, and thought provoking, and perspective building. It's a wonderful place to understand our planet and our place in it better.

Q: You are one of the few people who have performed a spacewalk. Tell me what that is like.

A: It's the most magnificent experience of my life. I was there for the birth of all three of my children. I was there in the delivery room as my three kids came out squalling and wet and screaming. And I was a Navy test pilot putting airplanes out of control. I helped build part of the (Russian) space station Mir, and everything else pales in comparison to walking in space.

Part of it is the rareness of it. It's a brand new human experience, to be alone in the universe. You know, physically and psychologically like that. A large part of it, though, is in the surprising, kind of shocking beauty of it. ... You pull yourself physically outside on a spacewalk, and immediately, instantaneously, you are in between a kaleidoscope of colors and textures that is the world. It's so visually powerful. ... In one hand, you're holding onto a space shuttle or a space station, a human creation — just holding on with one hand, and then if you look the other way, the entire rest of everything else — the universe — is right there underneath your feet. You know, a blackness that is so profound and endless.

Q: What does an astronaut do when he or she is not flying?

A: That's a really good question. It's as if all astronauts do is fly. But that's so far from the truth. Astronauts very, very seldom fly in space. Now what we do in between flight is, we make spaceflight possible. ... We work in Mission Control. We work at the Cape. We work in Star City, Russia — all the space centers around the world. We support other people flying in space. ... And once in a while, very rarely, you get to fly in space yourself.

Q: What is it like to sit on top of a controlled explosion and launch into space?

A: It's an amazing ride, and it's something that would be terrifying if you weren't ready for it. But you train for years, and you buy into the risk years in advance. You recognize what the risks are and you accept that I am going to go and do a risky thing. But it's not a random risk: I am going to do things where I have a lot of control over my own destiny. So if you just viewed it as sitting on top of a bomb that was exploding in one direction, you would probably feel quite different than if you viewed it as, well, sort of like getting into your car. Do you view your car as one long, continuous explosion of gasoline? Or do you view it as a nicely controlled channeling of power to allow you to go somewhere quickly? It's sort of the same, only to the Nth degree.

Q: You're retired now. What do you do for an encore?

A: I'm extremely busy now with things I find interesting and important to me. One is the book I wrote: An Astronauts Guide To Life On Earth. ... And we're planning a book tour in the fall with that. I'm doing a lot of teaching and speaking about spaceflight. ... And eventually, we'll see what comes next.

 

The former Soviet Union and the U.S. were the first two countries in space. The third country: Canada.

Canada's Alouette satellite was launched in 1962, and since then, the nation has played key roles in space exploration. Canada also designed and built the shuttle's robot arm and the robotic arm used to erect the International Space Station.

This week, Canada officially launches an exhibition at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Dubbed Canada-In-Space: NASA's Enduring Partner, the photo exhibit is a 50-year retrospective of Canadian exploits in space.

 

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