In 1969, watching the landing of Apollo 11 on the Moon on TV from his parents' farm in Canada, Chris Hadfield was amazed and excited. On that day, at only nine years old, Chris made the most important decision of his life: He was going to be an astronaut.
There wasn't even a training program in Canada to become an astronaut; but Chris was determined. He spent a great deal of time studying and fixing engines. After school he joined the Canadian army where he learned to fly many different types of planes. Chris did a lot of research for the National Aeronautics and Space Admmistration (NASA) in the United States and had special training. Finally, in 1995 he rode his first rocket into space.
Chris became the first Canadian astronaut to walk in spare, and went on a number of space missions throughout his carcer. The most memorable was his five-month stay on the International Space Station (ISS) as commander, between December 2012 and May 2013. He posted on social media thousands of photos of Earth and videos of himself explaining how things work in zero gravity. His followers could watch him sleeping, brushing his teeth, washing his hands, or preparing "space" snacks in zero gravity, which turned him into a social media phenomenon.
Today, Chris travels the world giving talks about his work. He once said, "Decide in your heart of hearts what really excites and challenges you, and start moving your life in that direction. Every decision you make, from what you eat to what you do with your time tonight, turns you into who you are tomorrow. Look at who you want to be, and stan sculpting yourself into that person. You may not get exactly where you thought you'd be, but you will be doing things that suit you in a profession you believe in. Don't let life randomly kick you into the adult you don't want to become. "
