COMMANDER CHRIS HADFIELD: “Space Oddity”

Incredible. This guy is our hero. If you haven’t been following along on Twitter or YouTube, know that astronaut Chris Hadfield is the coolest Canadian space cadet since Neil Young lit up in the 60s. For the last few months he’s been tweeting amazing low Earth orbit photos (including this shot of Philadelphia from space), answering questions from Earthlings about space travel with demonstrations on YouTube  (How do you brush your teeth in space? Can you cry in space?), singing songs of love like an interstellar Hurdy Gurdy Man and in the process accomplishing something no American astronaut has done since Neil Armstrong: make space exploration cool. Hooray for Canada! Hooray for science! I watch this guy and I remember why I became so obsessed with growing up to be an astronaut when I was single-digits-years-old. The closest I got was an commemorative Apollo flight jacket from the NASA gift shop at Cape Canaveral in 1976. Turns out you had to be able to do math and that was a deal-breaker.  I watch this and I realize that kid is still inside of me. And that’s good to know. You can check out his hijinks HERE. He’s on his way home as I type this, but what a grande finale: A VERY credible version of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” no easy task that — witness the absence of any high profile covers. Until now. Bowie himself tweeted at him, ‘Hallo Spaceboy.’ This will invariably go mega-viral. More importantly he’s restored this spaceboy’s hope and faith in the power of space exploration to advance mankind. And for that we salute you, Commander Hadfield. Live long and prosper.