Chris Austin Hadfield OC OOnt MSC CD (born August 29, 1959) is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot, musician, and writer.

Prior to his career as an astronaut, he served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 25 years as an Air Command fighter pilot.

Hadfield has cited part of his career inspiration to have come to him as a child, when he watched the first crewed Moon landing by American spaceflight Apollo 11 on television.

He attended high school in Oakville and Milton in southern Ontario, and earned his glider pilot licence as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.

After enlisting in the Canadian Armed Forces, he earned an engineering degree at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario.

During this mission, he chronicled life onboard the space station by taking pictures of Earth and posting them on various social media platforms.

[10] After the 2012–13 NHL lockout ended, Hadfield tweeted a photo of himself holding a Maple Leafs logo, and stated he was "ready to cheer [his team] on from orbit".

[12] In November 2022, he was invited by coach John Herdman to speak to the Canada soccer team ahead of their first match in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

degree in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee Space Institute, where his thesis concerned high-angle attack aerodynamics of the F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet.

[7] He was the director of operations for NASA at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Star City, Russia from 2001 until 2003.

He also trained and became fully qualified to be a flight engineer cosmonaut in the Soyuz TMA spacecraft, and to perform spacewalks in the Russian Orlan spacesuit.

[7] Hadfield is a civilian CSA astronaut, having retired as a colonel from the Canadian Armed Forces in 2003 after 25 years of military service.

[17][18] NASA announced in 2010 that Hadfield would become the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station, leading Expedition 35 after its launch on December 19, 2012.

During the flight, the crew of Space Shuttle Atlantis attached a five-tonne docking module to Mir and transferred over 1,000 kg of food, water, and scientific supplies to the cosmonauts.

The crew of Space Shuttle Endeavour delivered and installed Canadarm2, the new Canadian-built robotic arm, as well as the Italian-made resupply module Raffaello.

During his first spacewalk Hadfield experienced severe eye irritation due to the anti-fog solution used to polish his spacesuit visor, temporarily blinding him and forcing him to vent oxygen into space.

[7][23] On December 19, 2012, Hadfield launched in the Soyuz TMA-07M flight for a long duration stay on board the ISS as part of Expedition 35.

[33][34] During his free time on Expedition 35, Hadfield recorded music for an album, using the Larrivée Parlor guitar previously brought to the ISS.

"[46] Hadfield wrote an article for the December 2013 edition of Wired magazine in which he reflects on his time spent on the International Space Station.

alongside Kevin Fong and Iya Whiteley, where 12 contestants compete to earn Hadfield's approval and recommendation as a candidate for future applications to become an astronaut.

[49] The challenges involved replicated real tests carried out by the different Space Agencies at facilities in Europe and America, including hypoxia and centrifuge training, with contestants eliminated each week.

"[52] Hadfield will be joined by former astronaut Sandra Magnus and Chief Scientist of Cubic Corporation David A. Whelan.

[62] Hadfield was commemorated on Royal Canadian Mint silver and gold coins for his spacewalk to install Canadarm2 on the International Space Station in 2001.

Upon his taking command of the International Space Station, Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, sent Hadfield a personal message of congratulations, stating "I am pleased to transmit my personal best wishes, and those of all Canadians, to Colonel Christopher Hadfield as he takes command of the International Space Station".

[70] Elizabeth's successor, Charles III, held an audience with Hadfield at Buckingham Palace on February 9, 2023, to discuss sustainability in space.