Chris Hadfield
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| Chris Austin Hadfield | |
|---|---|
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| CSA Astronaut | |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Status | Active |
| Born | August 29, 1959 Sarnia, Ontario |
| Other occupation | Test pilot |
| Rank | Colonel, Canadian Air Force |
| Space time | 20d 02h 02m |
| Selection | 1992 CSA Group |
| Missions | STS-74, STS-100 |
| Mission insignia |
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Chris Austin Hadfield (born August 29, 1959) is a Canadian astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency who was the first Canadian to walk in space.
Hadfield was born in Sarnia, Ontario. He attended Montclair Senior School and White Oaks High School in Oakville, and graduated as an Ontario Scholar from Milton District High School in 1977. In 2005, Colonel Hadfield revisited Montclair to talk to the students about dreams and determination. In Milton, Hadfield was a Wolf Cub and later joined the Royal Canadian Air Cadets' 820 Blue Thunder Squadron. In 2005, the squadron was renamed 820 Chris Hadfield Squadron in his honour.
Hadfield earned a mechanical engineering degree from the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario in 1982. He conducted post-graduate research at the University of Waterloo, Ontario in 1982 and received a Master of Science in aviation systems at the University of Tennessee in 1992.
Hadfield trained as a pilot in the Canadian Forces and was top graduate in his jet training class in 1983. He flew CF-18 fighter jets on NORAD missions for three years. During this time, Hadfield is credited with the first CF-18 intercept of a Soviet "Bear" aircraft off Canada's Atlantic coast.
Hadfield attended the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California. His work then turned to research and testing as an exchange officer with the U.S. Navy at Strike Aircraft Test Directorate, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Maryland.
In 1992, Hadfield successfully competed with more than 5300 applicants to join Canada's space program, and was assigned to NASA's Johnson Space Center. For 25 Shuttle missions, Hadfield was, "the voice of mission control:" the Chief CAPCOM for NASA.
For his first shuttle mission (STS-74) in 1995, Hadfield was Mission Specialist #1 on Atlantis, operating the Canadarm for NASA's second space shuttle mission to rendezvous with the Russian Space Station Mir. On his next mission (STS-100), as Mission Specialist on Endeavour in 2001, Hadfield spent 14 hours, 54 minutes outside the craft on two spacewalks, including the first by a Canadian. On this mission, the crew used the Canadarm2 robotic arm to support assembly of the new International Space Station.
From 2001 to 2003, Hadfield was NASA's Director of Operations at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.
Hadfield retired from the Canadian Forces as a Colonel in 2003 after 25 years of service. He is now a civilian CSA astronaut and is Chief of International Space Station Operations for the NASA Astronaut Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Chris Hadfield is married and has three children.
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[edit] Awards and honors
Sarnia's airport was renamed Chris Hadfield Airport in his honour in 1997. In Milton, he is namesake to Chris Hadfield Public School, Chris Hadfield Park, and Chris Hadfield Way, a street, and most recently the 820 Chris Hadfield Air Cadet Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.
[edit] See also
