Billy Bishop, Yuri Gagarin, Marcus Aurelius and Thomas Jefferson.
These impressive figures are among those who served as inspiration for another impressive figure in his own right: Chris Hadfield.
“I learned a lot from my parents and immediate influences around me, and then I idolized certain people, you know the heroic figures,” explains the retired Canadian astronaut, adding the list changed over the years to suit different phases of his life.
“Initially Batman was pretty inspiring,” he says with a laugh.
Speaking to the North Shore News from a hotel in Calgary recently, Hadfield is happy to be an inspiration to space enthusiasts and budding astronauts across the country, but is not comfortable with any hero worship.
“I’ve learned that everybody has performed acts of heroism, they just haven’t announced them. And everybody you meet knows things that you don’t know. Everybody. So it doesn’t have to be grandiose and one time. There’s something to learn and to admire in pretty much everybody you meet.”
A former Canadian military pilot who went on to work with NASA, Hadfield gained popularity via social media on his last trip into space.
In the spring of 2013, Hadfield was on a long-stay mission to the International Space Station (his third trip into space), when he became the station commander. He shared his experience there with millions of followers on Twitter, and also reached out on Facebook and Tumblr.
From his perch high above the Earth, he answered questions from fans and demonstrated how things work in space, such as how astronauts pee or sleep on the station, and what happens to their tears when they cry.
During his latest interview with the North Shore News, he is willing to answer yet another question about space (this one from the reporter’s mother, a longtime space enthusiast who was one of Hadfield’s many Twitter followers): How long did it take to adapt to the feeling of weightlessness?
“You’re quite clumsy for the first day or two. You blunder into things and you get your propulsion wrong and you lose track of where your limbs are and you’re kicking stuff around. I remember on my first flight we helped build the Russian space station Mir and the guys who were living there were just wincing as we came blundering through like bulls in their china shop,” he recalls with a laugh.
“But I found I was pretty good after a week or two, and really after a month I felt, I don’t know, like a dolphin in Sea World, elegant and smooth. And I knew where my limbs were and I didn’t have to think about what my feet were doing and it all flowed very smoothly. So I think really it took about a month to become truly adapted to being a spaceling and no longer being an earthling.”
These days, although he is retired from the astronaut business, Hadfield is still busy sharing his experience with audiences all over the world. He receives thousands of requests to attend various events, and says he is trying to speak to as many people as possible.
“It’s been just such an amazing sequence of experiences that has gotten me to this point,” he notes.
During his decades-long career, Hadfield has spoken many times at schools and to organizations across the country. He has written articles for various publications and been involved in designing curriculum. So this latest bout of public speaking is all part of the same long continuum of sharing ideas.
“(It) is trying to push back the edge of human capability of exploration, understanding, and always with the most important objective of trying to see how does this matter, how does this apply, where is the utility and the interest and the skills that it brings to everybody?”
Last year, Hadfield released a book called An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth. It chronicles his journey from being a kid on a farm in southern Ontario, being inspired to become an astronaut after watching the Apollo moon landing, and reaching his goal of going into space. Along the way, he highlights life lessons he learned, sometimes the hard way.
The book is chock-full of interesting anecdotes and good advice. When asked if he ever felt discouraged that he might not reach his goal of going into space and getting where he wanted to be, his answer is simple, yet profound: “I was almost always where I wanted to be.”
He explains that he always kept his long-term goal in mind, but then constantly pursued things along the way that sounded interesting and challenging and that he could use to gain more skills.
“I wasn’t ever saying to myself, well I’m doing this but I hate it, but I’m hoping some day it will get me where I want to be. Instead, in both a deliberate and evolutionary manner it was more a matter of OK, that’s where I’d like my life to head and if everything went perfectly then eventually I’ll walk on the moon. But it’s probably not going to go perfectly, so meanwhile what am I going to do and what’s interesting and what challenges me?” he explains. “And all of those things were fascinating and interesting and challenging and fun and luckily enough the opportunity arose that they also led to being selected as a Canadian Space Agency astronaut.”
It’s a matter of how you define success and how you define getting to where you want to be, he adds.
“After I was selected as a CSA astronaut, the Canadian government was very strongly considering pulling out of the space station program altogether, which would have dramatically changed my future, but fortunately they changed their minds,” says Hadfield.
“But I always just figured I can’t control a lot of external things. What I can really control is myself and take notice of enjoying what’s happening. And through that philosophy, sure, there were times when I thought I’m just never going to fly in space, I’m never going to walk on the moon, I’m still pretty sure I’m never going to walk on the moon, but I don’t consider myself a failure.”
Hadfield firmly believes you can never learn too much and says the core of a particular job is not always the most important part. There are often many interesting related facets of work as well.
“If you’re not getting the very heart of everything that you need through one facet of your life then do some other things too,” he says.
In his book, Hadfield talks about being a positive influence in work and other team environments, and if you can’t contribute something positive then be a “zero,” meaning stay neutral instead of adding something negative.
“The only way to effectively compete is to improve your own skill set and constantly, relentlessly become better at what you’re doing,” he says.
In his spare time, Hadfield enjoys playing guitar, exercising, walking his dog, spending time with family, playing Scrabble and doing crosswords. He also skis, both in the water and downhill. It’s not surprising that he never gets bored. In fact, he says he is puzzled by people who say they get bored.
“Just look around the room you’re in. There are a thousand things in the room you’re in that you don’t know much about,” he says, throwing out a few examples: how did they build that lamp on the desk beside you, or how did they fit together the corners of that picture frame, is it glued or is it screwed and how did they do that?
“There’s a million things to learn around yourself all the time,” says Hadfield. “Why would you sit around and limit yourself when we are so incredibly opportunity-rich these days?”
Along with constantly gaining new skills, it is clearly evident in Hadfield’s book that he is also someone who works hard.
“I was raised on a farm and so I think I learned a long time ago the benefit of work. Not just that you get stuff done, which is good in itself, but that there’s great pleasure in getting stuff done and being able to look back at the end of the day and see that you accomplished something,” he explains.
“There’s a contentment and a steadily increasing sense of self-worth that comes from doing useful work, so it’s sort of internally contagious.”
Next week, Hadfield will bring his positive message to North Vancouver for a special presentation at Centennial Theatre. Not surprisingly the title of the show is inspiring.
“I called the talk that I’m going to give The Sky is Not the Limit because I hear all the time, ‘The sky’s the limit.’ I lived half a year above the sky. The sky is not the limit.”
Chris Hadfield: The Sky is Not the Limit, at Centennial Theatre, Friday, April 4. Tickets available at the box office, by calling 604-984-4484 or at centennialtheatre.com
