7 ms·
ISS Commander Chris Hadfield Covers ‘Space Oddity’ in Space
- peterb 13y agoCommander Hadfield is an inspiration. I wish him a safe trip home.
- ceejayoz 13y agoI wish he'd stay up there! :-)
- knowaveragejoe 13y agoHere's hoping the next crew does such a good job at public outreach.
- masklinn 13y agoConsidering previous crews, it's (sadly) pretty unlikely. He's been exceptional. Also, http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2013/03/22/the-end-of-nasas-education-and-public-outreach/ http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2013/03/22/the-end-o... > Effective immediately, all education and public outreach activities should be suspended, pending further review. In terms of scope, this includes all public engagement and outreach events, programs, activities, and products developed and implemented by Headquarters, Mission Directorates, and Centers across the Agency, including all education and public outreach efforts conducted by programs and projects.
- pavel_lishin 13y agoOkay, but that's not the whole story. > The scope encompasses, but is not limited to: > ... > - Web and social media sites in development (excludes operational sites).* So nothing is stopping an astronaut or kosmonaut with a Twitter and youtube account from talking to us down here, except maybe a scarcity of free time.
- alexqgb 13y agoIt's best that he doesn't. "Most of what we have learned about living in space is that we should not live in space. We are designed for gravity; without it, strange things happen to both body and mind. For each month spent in space, humans can lose up to two per cent of their bone mass. This means that each day, for hours on end, the ISS becomes the world’s highest-flying gym to keep its occupants fit. But even with such precautions, some returning space travellers require months of rehabilitation to readjust to life on Earth. Others, despite having access to the best facilities and treatments available, experience headaches, sight loss, and undiagnosed physical and psychological frailty for the rest of their lives." http://www.aeonmagazine.com/nature-and-cosmos/greg-klerkx-space-travel/ http://www.aeonmagazine.com/nature-and-cosmos/greg-klerkx-sp...
- ceejayoz 13y agoI'm well aware of the effects of weightlessness on the body. It doesn't change the fact that I've greatly enjoyed his presence and I'm completely bummed that he's gotta come back to boring old Earth.
- LeeHunter 13y agoSince none of the US media outlets seem to mention it, I'm wondering if most people know that Hadfield is a Canadian.
- endersshadow 13y agoIn the linked article, written by Time, a US media outlet, there is the sentence: "But after handing over command of the station to Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov ahead of his return to Earth on Monday, the Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield had one more treat for his fans down below."
- corresation 13y agoAs a Canadian I am a bit uncomfortable with the constant nationalizing of Hadfield (never by Hadfield himself, but instead by people who want to make something of it online). The I in ISS is about international cooperation, and Hadfield's adventure was made possible by many great people in many great nations. He is a great person, but the fact that he's a great person doesn't make me a better person beyond that we share a world.
- jetti 13y agoThe most I've seen about Hadfield being Canadian is on YouTube where there are comments that basically amount to "Go America". There is the standard reply that "You know he is Canadian, right?". As a US citizen, I'm uncomfortable with the constant jump by the masses to assume that everybody that does something has to be from the US. You are correct that the ISS is about international cooperation, so isn't it good the nations that are involved get their recognition?
- LeeHunter 13y agoI would have thought that if the I in ISS is about international cooperation, it would be important to emphasize, where it's not obvious, that the people in the station actually do come from different countries.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- sghill 13y agoHe's done some really great work in engaging the public with the ISS. He has a bunch of videos on the Canadian Space Agency YouTube Channel[1]. Wringing out Water on the ISS - for Science![2] was the one that got me hooked. Hopefully the next commander keeps these excellent videos going. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/user/canadianspaceagency/videos?view=0 https://www.youtube.com/user/canadianspaceagency/videos?view... [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8TssbmY-GM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8TssbmY-GM
- peterb 13y agoHis response to Captain Kirk was epic. https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/status/286948264236945408 https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/status/286948264236945408
- rev_null 13y agoI'm disappointed that he left out the stylophone.
- verandaguy 13y agoThe only thing Chris Hadfield can't do is not be awesome. Even clipping his nails in space (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xICkLB3vAeU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xICkLB3vAeU) is interesting.
- youngerdryas 13y agoFreaking awesome. By the way even though this one was mostly a keyboard song Space Oddity is a great song to start learning guitar.
- danso 13y agoWhen I was young, I just thought astronauts were lucky people who got to go to space. It wasn't until I got older and read through their bios (and such books as, The Right Stuff), that I realized they were actual uber-men/women...not only good at operating a space shuttle, but at a hundred other skills that may be needed when you're in space, including musical performances.
- pavel_lishin 13y agoThere was a recent car commercial, where they rapidly flashed scenes of the process of car design, with a voice-over reading "Bring out the designers. Bring out the mechanics. Bring out the nerds." Each sentence would show a stereotypical example of each. The designers were in a bright Apple-store-like office, wearing fashionable glasses. The mechanic was a long-haired guy holding a wrench. And the nerds were astronauts, in launch suits, presumably walking towards a space launch.
- bluedino 13y agoDodge Dart commercial - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUxPYXvTElA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUxPYXvTElA
- arundelo 13y agoA couple quotes from Hadfield's Reddit account: We are trained to be able to do everything onboard - we have to be. It takes many years. To be an astronaut who orbits earth and stays for a while, it needs to become your main life's work. It takes: physical fitness to the highest standard, an advanced technical degree, and a proven ability to make good decisions when consequences matter. Then apply to the Space Agency of your country, and compete with the thousands who also want to fly in space. Sources: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/18pik4/i_am_astronaut_chris_hadfield_currently_orbiting/c8gvqdq http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/18pik4/i_am_astronaut_... http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/18pik4/i_am_astronaut_chris_hadfield_currently_orbiting/c8gvv6u http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/18pik4/i_am_astronaut_...
- 13y ago
- sergiotapia 13y agoI love how he has managed to capture the interest of young people. 14 year olds are loving his adventures in space and that´s a good thing. How many kids do you think this man has inspired to pursue a career in an engineering related field?
- k_infinite 13y agoI can imagine, how you fall in love with space and the view and your heart breaks a little (or a lot), when your time up there is nearing its end and you have to give it all up, knowing that it was a chance of a lifetime, never to be had again. A feeling of having been punched in the stomach, it almost feels like mourning.
- mikeash 13y agoThings I am envious of from this video: 1. Being in space. 2. His mustache. Things I now know that I didn't know before seeing this video: 3. There is at least one guitar currently in space.
- donohoe 13y agoWell, he forgot the original lyrics in places and improv'd. HOW. EMBARRASSING.
- donohoe 13y agoSarcasm people! Jeez.
- tiredofcareer 13y agoIt is my opinion that Chris Hadfield has done vast amounts more toward popularizing space travel than NASA has in its entire run, the televised moon landings notwithstanding. The general public even got bored of going to the moon after the first few trips, as Apollo 13 dramatizes, but Cmdr. Hadfield has cultivated an enormous, captivated audience for what is arguably routine space travel. (That's not a dig at NASA; it's a compliment to Hadfield.) That accomplishment is even more notable because while Canada has a space agency, most of the world wouldn't consider Canada "spacefaring" in the broad sense (also not a dig at Canada). That a man challenged himself in his career to become an astronaut without a clear path to orbit, then reached a position where he can bring space travel to YouTube, Reddit, schools, and countless young minds in a new generation with the light touch required to "make it stick" is an accomplishment worthy of immense praise. Maybe a Nobel. EDIT: Holy cow, this got flagged off the front page in the time it took me to get coffee.
- untog 13y agoIt is my opinion that Chris Hadfield has done vast amounts more toward popularizing space travel than NASA has in its entire run I'm going to give an opinion here that has no evidence- so consider me devil's advocate-ing, I'd love to see contrary evidence. I have long suspected that Chris Hadfield has been phenomenally popular among the tech-inclined, tweeting classes- but has had a far smaller impact on the 'everyday' person. I do not mean this as a slight to him in any way- I think he has done everything and anything that he could. But the mainstream media seems uninterested- the height of the NASA space faring days was when there were about four TV channels anyone watched- the mindshare it captured is incredibly difficult if not impossible to replicate today. It's very sad.
- tiredofcareer 13y agoYoung people are not the mainstream media's target audience, but they are Hadfield's. The obvious undercurrent to his efforts is to get more kids interested in science, engineering, and potentially space travel; mainstream media doesn't get ratings out of that, so it isn't really worth covering for them. This Bowie cover seems to be gaining some steam, though; as another poster mentioned, I've heard about it from several people not in my usual "tech" circle. Listening to the kids react in wonderment as he demonstrated wringing a towel out in orbit really drove home that he's reaching, and really reaching, the right audience in a way that NASA has struggled with for decades. He is exceedingly well-educated and is probably aware of declining interest in STEM among younger kids and especially declining interest in space travel as a whole. (I don't have data to back that up, just basic anecdotal experience much like you, but it seems true.)
- youngerdryas 13y agoEncore - Life on Mars