There are no visits to the moon nor high-profile Space Shuttle launches, but stories about Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield have become so prolific that he has become a household name. This is a major feat for an industry that dramatically quieted down after the cancellation of the Space Shuttle program in 2011.
Outside of the Mars rover launches, which experienced mild news coverage when the Curiosity rover landed in August, there has been disturbingly infrequent interest in space programs in the last couple of years. This took a positive turn when Hadfield was launched to the International Space Station in December, sparking a social media conversation that gained an unprecedented following for a scientific topic. His 336 000 Facebook likes and 980 000 Twitter followers have proven a testament to the popularity of the Canadian astronaut, who interacts daily with the people who show such interest in his daily life.
Perhaps why so many people have chosen to follow Hadfield’s adventures is because they offer such a unique glimpse into life in space. Past spaceflights have been filmed, yet the footage is usually not disseminated past libraries and IMAX films. Hadfield broke the mould and made a conscious effort to regularly communicate to his fans by offering unique views of locations from space as well as giving Twitter-like updates on what was happening in the station. He also released a small series of videos demonstrating how Earth-oriented activities have to be modified for space, such as how astronauts sleep while in zero-gravity situations. These videos described interesting zero-gravity properties, but also gave fans a reason to show interest in space by connecting it to activities with which they were familiar. How do I wash my hands in space? How do I brush my teeth? Keep myself fit? Go to the bathroom? Tasks that seemingly appear mundane on Earth appear intriguing and strange in space, and pique the interest of not just those interest in technology and science but people who would not normally take interest in that sort of thing.
Hadfield’s nightly photographs of cities and landscapes had an effect in bringing people together from a multitude of backgrounds, as there was usually an image of something from their area in which they could express pride or interest. Showing how small and connected the world is helped people bond over an interest in a singular cause, something usually only attributed to non-verbal themes like music and art. His smart sense of humour, like his photo commemorating Star Wars Day earlier this month, helped build his Internet reputation and keep him active in the conversation of others.
While Hadfield left space in mid-May, he has been hoping to continue his updates with daily photos from his space backlog as well as updates on the kinds of tests he is undergoing that measure the effects of space on the human body. It may be a few years before another Canadian, let alone a Waterloo grad, makes their way to space again, but hopefully whoever is in the International Space Station can keep as good of a conversation as Hadfield. Space is such an intriguing and unexplored frontier, and having people show an interest in it will keep space programs from fading away. Even for socialites who take notes from Hadfield’s lessons in social media, it’s hard to match the cool factor of some of the things he was able to share, and these kinds of updates are what reminds us of why space is such an interesting field of discovery.
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