Chris Hadfield: Astronaut, Fighter Pilot, and Author of ‘The Defector’

Today’s guest is Chris Hadfield.

Chris is a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, musician, retired astronaut, and former combat pilot.

Before becoming an astronaut, Chris was a tactical fighter pilot in the Canadian Armed Forces. He was the top graduate of the U.S. Air Force Pilot School and was named U.S. Navy Test Pilot of the Year in 1991. In 2005, Chris was inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.

Chris is one of the most accomplished astronauts in the world. He was the first Canadian astronaut to walk in space and to operate a robotic arm in orbit. During his career, he flew three missions, helped build two space stations, and performed two spacewalks. He also served as mission control for 25 Space Shuttle missions, coordinated crews for the Shuttle and Soyuz spacecraft, and served as NASA’s director of operations in Russia from 2001 to 2003. In 2013, he became the first Canadian to be named commander of the International Space Station (ISS). 

Now, Chris serves as an advisor to SpaceX and Virgin Galactic and is the chair of the board for the Open Lunar Foundation, a nonprofit that is working to create a cooperative and peaceful presence on the moon. 

Chris is the co-creator and host of the BBC series Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes? 

He also produces Rare Earth on YouTube, and contributed to the National Geographic show One Strange Rock, hosted by Will Smith.

Chris is the author of four bestselling books: An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, You Are Here, The Darkest Dark, and The Apollo Murders. 

His new book, The Defector, is available now.

You can learn more about Chris by following him on Instagram @colchrishadfield and visiting his website, chrishadfield.ca

SPONSORS:

Navy Federal Credit Union: Today’s episode is presented by Navy Federal Credit Union. Learn more about them at navyfederal.org

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Featured Gear

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