Canadian Commander Chris Hadfield came back to earth today from a five month mission on the International Space Station.
American Thomas Marshburn, Russian Roman Romanenko and Commander Hadfield landed as planned southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan at 8:31 am local time.
Hadfield, 53, an engineer and former test pilot from Milton, Ontario, was Canada's first professional astronaut to live aboard the space station and became the first Canadian in charge of a spacecraft. He relinquished command of the space station on Sunday.
Hadfield bowed out of orbit by posting a music video on YouTube on Sunday — his own custom version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity." It's believed to be the first music video made in space, according to NASA. "With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World," Hadfield said via Twitter. According to David Bowie: "It's possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created."
There's a reason I use the word "universe" in my blog name, it's because I believe in technology, and the future and I think a commitment to exploring space is the only way this planet of ours will ever get past the poverty and wars that hold us back.
The technology that evolved from the 1960s space race shows that dollar for dollar, spending money on space exploration is so much more fruitful than spending on wars, and fewer people die....
(Above and below, actual drawings from a 1970s NASA project on potential colonization of space)
(The first two, and last two, photos courtesy of the NASA Ames Research Center)
Whether you agree with me or not, please enjoy the video produced by Commander Hadfield, his son Evan, and NASA, found here
Wishing you only good things, Neen
