A venue on Westside is to be the ‘launchpad’ for an exciting new show that aims to reveal all about life in space and the new era of space travel.
Astronaut Chris Hadfield, who spent 21 years with the likes of NASA and the Canadian Space Agency in his home country, is returning to Earth with a new and exclusive tour that includes a visit to Symphony Hall on 23 June.
The show, entitled On Earth and Space – Chris Hadfield’s Guide to the Cosmos, will see the former commander of the International Space Station share his thoughts on the new age of space travel and what it will mean for life on Earth.
Hadfield, who retired in 2013 to become a successful author, is in the extraordinary position of having spent 15 hours on spacewalks in the infinite vastness of space.
The first Canadian to walk in space, Hadfield came to wider global attention when he recorded a version of David Bowie’s hit Space Oddity on board the International Space Station.
Since his retirement, he has written four best-selling books with a fifth, The Defector, a thriller drawing on his time as a fighter pilot, due for release in the autumn.
Hadfield explained that he was greatly looking forward to the forthcoming tour, and said: “It is such a joy to connect and share ideas with so many people.
“It will be an evening of discovery and digging into many ideas about space, of where we have come from, where we are and where it’s leading to, helping us to understand more about where space exploration is heading with the technological advancements like today’s rockets and the James Webb Telescope.”
Hadfield’s journey to space began as a nine-year-old in Ontario, Canada, where he recalled watching Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong take part in the first ever lunar landing and Moon walk.
“What I saw was the most exciting thing human beings had ever done, and I wanted to be part of that,” he said.
He learnt to fly aged 15 and went on to enlist with the Canadian Armed Forces, where he eventually became a combat fighter pilot and test pilot, including time with the US Navy. He was then accepted into the Canadian Space Agency’s astronaut programme at the age of 33.
“The day you get the phone call to be selected to the Canadian Space Agency is one of the most amazing moments,” Hadfield said. “To put it in context, a recent intake to NASA saw 18,300 applications for eleven places. When I applied to the Canadian Space Agency in 1992, there were 5,300 applicants for four places.”
Hadfield went on to become the first Canadian to spacewalk and the first astronaut from his country to command a spaceship. In all, he has completed 15 hours of spacewalks and has orbited Earth more than 2,600 times.
He said stepping out into space was “literally and figuratively an other-worldly experience”, but that the moment was dominated by the responsibility of the tasks on hand.
He said: “It’s very dangerous, but there’s a huge number of things to squeeze in in a wildly different environment, at very high stakes. The vast majority of what you’re thinking about is the detail and work you are doing, and the life and death enormity of performing each step and paying attention to each minor detail, as well as dealing with the things that can and do go wrong.
“I was blinded on my first walk, and there have been instances where there’s been a danger of someone drowning as cooling water gets into the suit’s helmet. It is also immensely exciting and the absolute personification of what I dreamed about as a nine-year-old boy.
“It is so exhilarating: the physical experience of pulling yourself out of a small airlock on the ISS into the infinite 3D of the universe, with Earth right there. You’re no longer an Earthling in that moment, and it really strikes home. It’s overwhelming. It gobsmacks you and stops thought. It’s an amazing time and place to be in your life.”
For more information and to book tickets, visit www.fane.co.uk/chris-hadfield
- Main picture credit: Dmitry Lovetsky
- Inset picture credit: NASA
