Chris Hadfield – Carol's Notebook

Author: Chris Hadfield

A heavily decorated astronaut, engineer, and pilot, Colonel Hadfield’s many awards include the Order of Canada, the Meritorious Service Cross and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. He was named the Top Test Pilot in both the US Air Force and the US Navy and was inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame. He has flown three space missions, building two space stations, performing two spacewalks (EVAs), crewing the Shuttle and Soyuz and commanding the International Space Station.

Colonel Hadfield is the author of three international bestsellers: An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, You Are Here, and The Darkest Dark, plus a new thriller novel, The Apollo Murders. He released a music album, Space Sessions: Songs from a Tin Can, and his version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity has been seen by 100s of millions. His TED talk on fear has been watched 11 million times.

Colonel Hadfield is the co-creator/host of the internationally acclaimed BBC series Astronauts, and helped create/host, with actor Will Smith, the National Geographic series One Strange Rock.

Colonel Hadfield is the producer of the celebrated Rare Earth series on YouTube and the creator of the on-stage celebration Generator, which combines science, comedy, and music for sold-out audiences.

Additionally, Colonel Hadfield is an adjunct professor at the University of Waterloo, an advisor to SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, and Board Chair of the Open Lunar Foundation.

My husband was telling me the other day that the Mars lander was losing power because of dust. I asked if it was on the radiator. He looked at me funny and said it was on the solar panels. I had been in the middle of The Apollo Murders and I don't think it's a spoiler to say that an astronaut's plan to sabotage the Soviet's moon rover was to cover it in dust. It's the middle of the Cold War and the US and the Soviet Union are in a race to conquer space — for national security reasons, foreign policy objectives, and bragging rights. In this science-fiction thriller set during the Nixon administration, Apollo 18 is being sent on one last mission to the moon. The Soviets have a moon rover and a manned spy satellite. The tension between the Americans and the Soviets is palpable, both in space and on the ground. It's national pride and personal...