On May 13th, Commander Chris Hadfield returned to his home planet. That’s an odd phrase that you’ll rarely find outside of fiction, but the Canadian leader of Expedition 35 ended his 5-month stay aboard the International Space Station last week. He marked the end of his journey with the world’s first music video filmed in space, a rendition of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” The video has since gone viral, viewed more than 14 million times since its May 12th debut.
But viral videos are no stranger to Commander Hadfield. Forbes has called Hadfield “perhaps the most social media savvy astronaut ever to leave Earth.” While aboard the ISS, Hadfield connected with the people of Earth through social media, posting pictures from space to his nearly 1 million followers on Twitter and tumblr, sharing his zero-g adventures on YouTube, and hosting Q&A sessions on Reddit (known as “AMAs” or “Ask Me Anything”).
On the Canadian Space Agency YouTube channel, one can find a multitude of videos featuring Chris Hadfield performing various “experiments” in space. Each of these videos have hundreds of thousands of views. The content of these videos would probably be some of the most mundane activities in the world. Luckily, they’re literally not of this earth, but, instead, a zero gravity environment aboard the ISS. Opening a can of mixed nuts is suddenly a very fascinating event to witness. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to cry or clip your nails in space, Commander Hadfield has you covered. Even watching him just stand there and talk is intriguing. You watch, mesmerized by microphone floating in front of him. Then Hadfield’s feet suddenly flip into the air and you realize he’s floating as well. Hadfield exudes this sort of zero-g finesse that almost no one else on Earth could even hope to have, at least not yet. Someday we’ll be able to make a peanut butter sandwich in space, and we’ll know how thanks to Commander Hadfield. It also certainly helps that Hadfield has a very charming screen presence. He makes space fun!
Videos such as these gave Hadfield an anchor to Earth, reconnecting with people on the surface in unprecedented ways. As a result of sharing his experiences online, there seems to be a rekindled interest in space travel among a populous that would not normally have paid attention otherwise, something NASA and other space agencies have been struggling to do for years. Hadfield has become an Internet hero.
All this just goes to show how big social media has become as a source of information and a part of our lives. Back in the day it was black and white television footage of Neil Armstrong taking his first steps on the moon. Now it’s a high definition video on YouTube of Chris Hadfield playing guitar in space.
By Alfredo Dizon, eParis Extra!
Alfredo, born and raised in Paris, is a recent graduate from the University of North Texas with degrees in English and Japanese. He immerses himself in various facets of “geek culture.” From technology to video games, Alfredo seeks to explore and expose these growing industries to a greater audience.