by Tara Jeffrey for the Sarnia Observer

(2014) Chris Hadfield was at his family’s Stag Island cottage when he watched the television coverage of the first moon landing in July 1969.

That’s when he decided he wanted to be an astronaut.
Thirty-two years later, dressed in a white spacesuit with a Canadian flag on the sleeve, the Sarnia native stepped out of the Space Shuttle Endeavour and into history, becoming the first Canadian to walk in space.

“When I was a little kid wanting to grow up to be an astronaut, this is what I wanted to do,” Hadfield said to fellow astronaut Scott Parazynski, while the pair successfully unfolded and installed the Canadarm2 during the historic seven hour spacewalk on April 22, 2001,

The 17-metre robotic arm is Canada’s $1.4 billion contribution to the International Space Station.

“We were just the deliverymen who have opened the door to what all of us can do internationally,” Hadfield said at the time.

Born in Sarnia General Hospital to parents Roger and Eleanor, Chris Austin Hadfield attended King George elementary before his family moved to Milton, Ontario. The family still spends summers at their Stag Island cottage and Hadfield has made frequent visits to his hometown over the years.

“That’s where I was raised, that’s where my values were formed, the things that I find important and necessary in life – those were all formed based on southern Ontario values,” Hadfield told the Observer in 2013.

“There’s lots of other places that have been home to me,” he added. “But Sarnia is where I was born, and it’s where I am from.”

Hadfield learned to fly as an air cadet and joined the military after high school. He earned his first degree at the Royal Military College and became a fighter pilot, and then a test pilot. The Canadian Space Agency selected him from among 5,330 candidates in 1992 and he was a member of the crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 1995.

He flew again in 2001 on the Endeavour. But it was a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station, beginning in December, 2012 that attracted unprecedented attention from around the globe.

Hadfield took to social media to share his experiences through photos of the planet and YouTube videos of life in space, garnering nearly a million Twitter followers and generating more attention than space flight has seen in some time.

He posted images of his hometown, including a photo he received from Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley of local Lansdowne school students participating in an event for Sarnia’s centennial.

“It’s that type of personal engagement with the community that has made such a difference,” Bradley said.

Following the successful mission, the 53-year-old Hadfield announced he would retire as an astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency to pursue new professional challenges. Hadfield fought back tears as he recounted his “incredible adventure” from Ontario farm boy and Star Trek fan to commander of the ISS. He said his retirement makes “good on a promise I made to my wife 30 years ago that yes, eventually we would live back in Canada.”

In October, 2013, Hadfield released his book, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth. His first foray into publishing includes a candid look at his 21-year journey to becoming commander of the ISS. He shares some of the lighter moments – like generating 17 million views with his Space Oddity music video – but doesn’t shy away from talking about the hard stuff, either in both his career and personal life.

Hadfield and his wife, Helene, were almost on the brink of bankruptcy in their early years. His children have been tested, too, growing up in the shadows of an astronaut father.

“I wanted to talk about all the stuff that goes on, so that people could see it wasn’t any sort of direct preordained path from Stag Island in Sarnia to commanding a spaceship,” Hadfield told the Observer. “It was a tremendously rocky road of improbable events and what looked like complete dead ends, yet one that actually happened.”

Hadfield recently accepted a post at the University of Waterloo.

“I’m just so pleased that I helped open doors for other Canadians in the future…..So there’s even more opportunities for young Canadians, going to King George just like I did, who can think about what a Canadian might do with his or her life over time. That’s what I am happiest about and most proud of.”

He is expected to return to Sarnia in the fall for another book signing, this time showcasing many of the fantastic photos he took from space.