Four bits of wisdom from astronaut Chris Hadfield
A short Q&A with the famous author of maybe the greatest ‘life management’ book ever published, on exploration, fear, and dreams.
We got to talk to famous space explorer (and social media star & guitar player) Chris Hadfield, about his adventures on the ISS and also about his great book, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, which is basically one of the greatest ‘life management’ books of all time.
Here are four bits of wisdom from one of the most accomplished space explorers of our time:
“It’s in our nature to explore.
It comes from basic curiosity, which then turns into scientific curiosity. We won’t stop at Low Earth Orbit, with the ISS, but we’ll go to the Moon, then on Mars. It’s part of the same journey that brought us out of Africa and in every corner of the Earth, in the oceans or deep in Antarctica. First, you’ll have a few explorers that will show it’s possible to get there. Then we’ll have a research station. And then we’ll go and live there. We, humans, will always push the frontier. That’s why I invest so much time and effort talking to kids — they are defined by curiosity and they will be the next generation of explorers.”
“Fear is important.
It makes you study really hard and be careful of every detail, aware of all kinds of dangers — because it’s hard to live in space. I’m afraid of heights, even though I am a pilot, but it’s something normal, actually a very useful emotion, that didn’t impede me becoming an astronaut. But you have to control it and not let it turn into panic.”
“ISS is not only a super-laboratory, unprecedented in our history, but also a great platform from where you can admire our planet in all its beauty. The views are spectacular, but you also get to see the destruction we caused. For me, this experience came with a personal obligation to be a good manager of this planet and tell people how important it is to take care of our home.”
“Many people ask me if I miss space. I was fortunate to get to go there two times, for almost six months, and I also made an EVA to work on Canadarm2, which makes me really proud as a Canadian. But my answer is no — meaning yes, it was a great experience, one for which I trained all my life, but I don’t miss it in the sense that it defines me, something I cannot live without. As I explained in my book, my objective of going to space was not an “all or nothing” thing, because I could have very well not get to go to space. The secret is to enjoy the ride, all the steps of your professional evolution and all the time you can get with your family. I’m working now on the second part of the Astronaut’s Guide, where I will explain this further.
But, yes, I would go back tomorrow if possible (laughs) with NASA or SpaceX. Sign me up!”
Hi there! I’m Vasile Decu, science journalist, amateur astronomer, professional bookworm. And I need your help:
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