Twitter just won’t be the same anymore.
International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield, along with flight engineers American Tom Marshburn and Russian Roman Romanenko, returned safely to Earth aboard a Soyuz space capsule Monday night at 9:31 Central Time, landing by parachute in Kazakhstan.
We at borg.com have been watching Canadian astronaut Hadfield and his stunning photography on his Twitter feed since we became addicted to Twitter. In fact I got addicted to Twitter almost entirely because of Hadfield’s tweets and have been raving about his photos and commentary for months. Probably no person in Earth’s history has shared such a perspective and love for Planet Earth as Hadfield, the first Canadian to command the International Space Station. Through his stunning photography of the details of Earth from so far away, like images of Stonehenge from outer space, hundreds of cities alight at night, and hidden paradises and geological formations among unreal blue seas, Hadfield has shared his rare world view with thousands of Twitter followers.
Hadfield has been orbiting Earth for five months. He and his fellow astronauts undocked from the space station at 6:08 p.m. Central Time for his three-hour ride home. It was Hadfield’s first trip home in a Russian Soyuz capsule–he had traveled in space shuttles in past missions in 1995 and 2001.
As a farewell to the space station, Hadfield, who sports a Major Dad moustache, released a video of a slightly modified version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, the “ground control to Major Tom” song, this time referencing his Soyuz ride home among other personal references. It is the first music video made in space, including Hadfield’s own vocals and guitar, put together by Hadfield and the crew and musicians back here on Earth, over the past several months.
Hadfield has been a huge presence on Twitter, with more than 850,000 followers as of Monday night. Hopefully Hadfield will continue posting photos taken aboard the space station, and sharing his great insights about Earth from above. And I can’t wait to see him host Saturday Night Live (rumor intentionally started here in the hopes it comes true).
Enjoy this superb music video, where you can see someone clearly fulfilling a dream that began 44 years ago when Bowie first released the song and when Neil Armstrong first walked on the surface of the Moon.
The best rock video ever? The best YouTube upload ever? The coolest thing ever done in outer space ever? Yes, yes, and yes. And someone should point out this video to J.J. Abrams on how to effectively use lens flares. Right on!
And frankly, Hadfield’s heartfelt rendition of the classic rock tune leaves Bowie’s original in the dust. You might just tear up a bit when you think how awesome it is Hadfield did something we all wish we could do–as Bowie’s lyrics take on new meaning–and how Hadfield has shared his experience with everyone in such a cool way.
C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com
Cool and Mia Farrow was definitely a fan. She was always tweeting about him. Who’d have thought that a lady would have the hots for an astronaut, Mr Nicholson!!