{"id":92216,"date":"2023-02-13T12:04:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T16:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=92216"},"modified":"2023-02-21T16:45:31","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T20:45:31","slug":"chris-hadfield-biography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/chris-hadfield-biography\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Hadfield: Biography and Life as an Astronaut"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What are the most interesting highlights of astronaut Chris Hadfield&#8217;s biography? How did Hadfield become an astronaut?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hadfield&#8217;s book <em>An Astronaut&#8217;s Guide to Life on Earth<\/em> details his career from test pilot to astronaut. With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/patience-and-perseverance\/\">patience and perseverance<\/a>, Hadfield became one of the Canadian Space Agency&#8217;s top astronauts when it was first formed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s take a look at the biography of Chris Hadfield to get a better idea of his astounding career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-hadfield-s-journey-to-becoming-an-astronaut\"><strong>Hadfield\u2019s Journey to Becoming an Astronaut<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Chris Hadfield&#8217;s biography starts at the exact moment he decided he wanted to be an astronaut. It was 1969, he was nine years old. He and his family were crowded around the TV, watching Neil Armstrong take his first steps on the Moon. <strong>Hadfield wanted a life like Armstrong\u2019s\u2014a life of exploring space and contributing to scientific knowledge.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: The 1969 Apollo 11 mission and moon landing, led by Armstrong, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/education-48298597\">inspired many children to become<\/a> space scientists and engineers. According to a recent survey, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/1032727\/astronaut-childhood-adults-united-states\/\">over a quarter of US adults claim that when they were children, they aspired to become astronauts<\/a>. However, fewer children today share this aspiration: Another recent survey reveals that <a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/science\/2019\/07\/american-kids-would-much-rather-be-youtubers-than-astronauts\/\">more of today\u2019s children in the US and UK aspire to become YouTube stars than astronauts<\/a>\u2014around 30% dream of careers as Youtubers, compared to the 10-11% who want to be astronauts.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During his childhood, <strong>Hadfield worried that his dream to become an astronaut was unattainable:<\/strong> He lived in Canada, and Canada didn\u2019t have a space agency at the time. The US space agency, NASA, only hired Americans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Although Canada lagged behind the US in establishing a federal space agency\u2014which they eventually did in 1989\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/22534-canadian-space-agency.html\">Canadians still contributed to space activities prior to this<\/a>. For instance, in 1969, the Canadian government joined NASA\u2019s Space Shuttle program. This led to the development of the Canadarm, a robotic arm used in many space missions, including Hadfield\u2019s first space flight.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the unfortunate reality that his chances of becoming an astronaut were slim, <strong>Hadfield decided he\u2019d <\/strong><strong><em>still<\/em><\/strong><strong> take steps that aligned with his goal to become an astronaut. <\/strong>That way, he\u2019d be ready if an opportunity arose. He worked hard in school, studied airplanes in his free time, and eventually earned a pilot\u2019s license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Why did Hadfield <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-focus-on-learning\/\">focus on learning<\/a> about and flying <em>airplanes<\/em> in preparation for becoming an astronaut? He may have chosen this focus because <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketstem.org\/2015\/02\/17\/land-sea-space-naval-aviators-led-way\/\">military pilots\u2019 skills in flying airplanes transfer well to flying spacecraft<\/a>. Additionally, military pilots are experienced in operating in and surviving extreme environments\u2014necessary skills for astronauts.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-from-test-pilot-to-astronaut\"><strong>From Test Pilot to Astronaut<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>After graduating from high school in 1977, Hadfield enrolled in military college and majored in mechanical engineering, a common major for aspiring astronauts. After marrying his high school sweetheart, he began training to fly fighter jets with the Canadian Forces. <strong>He soon realized that he wanted to be a test pilot\u2014at least until he could become an astronaut<\/strong>. He, his wife, and their three children moved to a US Air Force base where he attended and eventually graduated from test pilot school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: While Hadfield\u2019s plan to become a military test pilot might not seem immediately relevant to his goal of becoming an astronaut, NASA has historically recruited a large number of test pilots as astronauts. For instance, in 1958, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hq.nasa.gov\/office\/pao\/History\/SP-4214\/ch5-2.html\">NASA hired seven astronauts\u2014<em>all<\/em> military test pilots<\/a>\u2014for Project Mercury, their first human spaceflight program. The NASA hiring team reasoned that military test pilots were accustomed to the intensity of high-speed flight and remaining calm in stressful situations\u2014two skills essential for astronauts. In <a href=\"https:\/\/us.macmillan.com\/books\/9780312427566\/therightstuff\"><em>The Right Stuff<\/em><\/a>, journalist Tom Wolfe says that these astronauts also had \u201cthe right stuff\u201d\u2014both the courage to put their lives on the line and the skills to stay alive in dangerous situations.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Canada finally started its Canadian Space Agency (CSA), <strong>Hadfield set his sights on applying to be an astronaut<\/strong>. He continued working as a test pilot, and he spent his evenings and weekends completing a master\u2019s degree in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aviation-safety\/\">aviation<\/a> systems so he\u2019d be more qualified to serve as an astronaut. (Shortform note: A master\u2019s in aviation systems is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/frequently-asked-questions-0\/\">one of many options<\/a> for NASA\u2019s requirement that astronaut applicants hold a master\u2019s degree. Other options include a master\u2019s degree in most science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subfields.)Not long after completing his degree, Hadfield applied to the CSA and progressed through countless rounds of intensive interviews and tests. Then, one day in 1992, Hadfield got the call he\u2019d been looking forward to since age nine: <strong>He was selected from among over 5,000 applicants to be an astronaut for the CSA.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Hadfield\u2019s Career as an Astronaut<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Hadfield <em>technically<\/em> became an astronaut the day he received his acceptance call from the CSA, he claims that <strong>he <\/strong><strong><em>actually<\/em><\/strong><strong> became an astronaut after years of rigorous, exciting training\u2014training that taught him how astronauts think and behave<\/strong><strong><em>.&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: While Hadfield emphasizes the training he did <em>after<\/em> receiving his acceptance call, Canadian astronaut Dave Williams claims in his memoir, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simonandschuster.com\/books\/Defying-Limits\/Dave-Williams\/9781501160974\"><em>Defying Limits<\/em><\/a>, that his astronaut training began <em>before <\/em>his own acceptance call. This training began when he was a kid: His childhood experiences exploring the woods, cooking over a fire, and tinkering with electronics taught him to work independently, pursue his curiosity, and learn from his failures. These skills prepared him for the joys and challenges of being an astronaut. For instance, Williams claims that his diving certification as a teen prepared him to later start an underwater training program at NASA that trained astronauts for microgravity or weightlessness.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although most people assume that astronauts spend the majority of their time in space, Hadfield explains that in reality, <strong>astronauts spend most of their time on Earth, <\/strong><strong><em>training<\/em><\/strong><strong> to be in space. <\/strong>They study various subjects, run simulations to prepare for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/interstellar-space-travel\/\">space travel<\/a>, and support the missions of astronauts in space. Hadfield says that he loved this on-Earth training: He enjoyed learning new topics and contributing to <em>every<\/em> mission, not just his own space flights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: There\u2019s another reason why astronauts spend most of their job hours on Earth: Time in space <a href=\"https:\/\/humans-in-space.jaxa.jp\/en\/life\/health-in-space\/body-impact\/\">takes a negative toll on their bodies<\/a>. Therefore, they must limit their time in space. Beyond the protection of Earth\u2019s atmosphere, they\u2019re exposed to intense radiation from the sun, increasing their risk of cancer. Furthermore, when they\u2019re in space, astronauts\u2019 bodies grow accustomed to microgravity. They become used to moving around with no little resistance on their bones and muscles, and the fluids in their body (such as their blood and mucus) take time to calibrate. When they return to Earth, their bodies take a while to redistribute fluids and regain bone and muscle strength.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hadfield recalls three important missions that taught him valuable life lessons. All three flights involved working on space stations that orbit the earth, specifically <em>Mir<\/em> (The Russian Space Station) and the International Space Station (ISS). For Hadfield\u2019s first two missions, the CSA\u2014which worked with NASA\u2014assigned him to fly on two NASA-operated Space Shuttle flights to <em>Mir<\/em> and the ISS, respectively. For his last mission, he served as commander of the ISS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are the most interesting highlights of astronaut Chris Hadfield&#8217;s biography? How did Hadfield become an astronaut? Hadfield&#8217;s book An Astronaut&#8217;s Guide to Life on Earth details his career from test pilot to astronaut. With patience and perseverance, Hadfield became one of the Canadian Space Agency&#8217;s top astronauts when it was first formed. Let&#8217;s take a look at the biography of Chris Hadfield to get a better idea of his astounding career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":92828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,160],"tags":[900],"class_list":["post-92216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","category-science","tag-an-astronauts-guide-to-life-on-earth","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chris Hadfield: Biography and Life as an Astronaut - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In Chris Hadfield&#039;s biography An Astronaut&#039;s Guide to Life on Earth, the retired astronaut recounts the highlights of his career. 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