[...]... pipeline to NASA; two of my classmates, my good friends Susan Helms and Rick Husband, made it and became astronauts It wasn’t at all clear, though, if test pilot school would be a route to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) When, or even whether, the CSA would select more astronauts was anyone’s guess Only one thing was certain: the first Canadian astronauts were all payload specialists—scientists, not pilots... and the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland, where I ran into a Canadian test pilot who was there as part of a regular exchange program This guy casually mentioned that his tour was going to end soon and he’d be heading back to Cold Lake, so he guessed someone would be sent to replace him but he wasn’t sure who, yet When I told Helene about this later, she gave me an are-you-thinking-what-I’m-thinking... notwithstanding My plan was to relax a bit and enjoy our final year in Maryland, spend more time with the kids and play a little more guitar And then the Canadian Space Agency took out an ad in the newspaper Wanted: Astronauts I had about 10 feverish days to write and submit my resumé Helene and I set about making this thing the most impressive document ever to emerge from rural Maryland Certainly it was one of the... relations or could be trained to do it There were in-depth medical exams involving many vials of bodily fluids and a great deal of poking and prodding But the real make-or-break event was an hourlong panel interview, which included CSA bigwigs, PR people and astronauts I thought about it all week: How to stand out, yet not be a jerk? What were the best answers to the obvious questions? What should I not... take up and install Canadarm2, a huge, external robotic arm for capturing satellites and spaceships, moving supplies and people around and, most important, assembling the rest of the ISS The Shuttle would continue to bring up modules and labs, and Canadarm2 would help place them where they were supposed to go It was the world’s most expensive and sophisticated construction tool, and getting it up and working... real hard-ass, say—is not wanted on the voyage when it is going to be a long one Getting to space depends on many variables and circumstances that are entirely beyond an individual astronaut’s control, so it always made sense to me to view space flight as a bonus, not an entitlement And like any bonus, it would be foolhardy to bank on it Fortunately, there’s plenty to keep astronauts engaged and enthusiastic... into anything And NASA and the CSA are interested in the project because the study of microbialites may provide tools that will help us identify ancient forms of life on other planets—and because the DeepWorker is an analogue for the kinds of vehicles we may use someday to collect samples on the Moon, an asteroid or Mars The astronauts who wind up doing that work will need to know how to be the on-the-ground... say and respected my opinion; I had influence over the training and flight design process and could help make it more practical and relevant Twenty years after I got that phone call from Mac Evans, asking if I wanted to join the CSA, I was an éminence grise at JSC—I’d only been in space 20 days, yet I had turned myself into an astronaut Or to be more accurate, I’d been turned into an astronaut; NASA and... down-to-earth Every astronaut can fix a busted toilet—we have to do it all the time in space—and we all know how to pack meticulously, the way we have to in the Soyuz, where every last item must be strapped down just so or the weight and balance get thrown off The upshot of all this is that we become competent, which is the most important quality to have if you’re an astronaut—or, frankly, anyone, anywhere,... surgery and dentistry, program a computer and rewire an electrical panel, take professional-quality photographs and conduct a press conference— and get along harmoniously with colleagues, 24/7, in a confined space In the Shuttle era, NASA wanted people who could operate the most complicated vehicle in the world for short stints Today, NASA looks for people who can be locked in a tin can for six months and . Corporation. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Hadfield, Chris An astronaut’s guide to life on earth / Chris Hadfield. eBook ISBN: 97 8-0 -3 458127 2-8 1. Hadfield, Chris. 2. Astronauts Canada—Biography RANDOM HOUSE CANADA COPYRIGHT © 2013 CHRIS HADFIELD All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any. York, and in the United Kingdom by Pan Macmillan, London. Distributed in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited. www.randomhouse.ca Random House Canada and colophon are registered trademarks. Grateful