On his return to Earth, on being asked about a potential interest to run for political office, Hadfield said:
“But for me personally, right now, I have no aspirations at all.”
In a National Post article, Chris talked about the state of space travel, and people. Here are two of the more interesting things covered in that article:
- Concerning our time as a civilization on Earth:
“The experience of leaving Earth is still very new for humanity”
- On social media (something he was urged to do after the mission was announced in 2010), his son Evan, the man behind the social media push, said this:
“Since he first was assigned the flight, it was important to us to find a way to relay his experience back to people in a manner that they could easily follow and enjoy”
On returning to Earth, Chris asked his wife two questions. The first was (fittingly!) how she was, and the second was
“How did the Leafs do?”
For a man who had flown over 70 types of aircraft before his space flights (Expedition 35, his most recent, was his third trip into space), he once said this about the Space Shuttle:
“I’ve had a chance to fly a lot of different airplanes, but it was nothing like the shuttle ride.”
Hadfield was a prolific tweeter while in space, and many of his tweets were eloquently, powerful written. Among them were these:
“Like a Praying Mantis, Canadarm2 poised to reach out and grab Dragon”
“Ancient mountain roots stand out roundly amongst the patchwork fields in this Quebec winter landscape.”
Fittingly, Chris Hadfield inspired generations of people. This was perhaps seen in the largest way as he engaged school-aged children. One particular, young student asked him for advice for an “aspiring astronaut”. His reply, edited only for length in this article, in part said:
“Every decision you make, from what you eat to what you do with your time tonight, turns you into who you are tomorrow and the day after that.”