20 May, 2013

Welcome Back to Earth, Commander Hadfield

Welcome Back to Earth, Commander Hadfield:
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, commander of the just-completed Expedition 35 aboard the International Space Station, landed safely yesterday in Kazakhstan along with crew members Tom Marshburn and Roman Romanenko after five months in orbit. In his time aboard the ISS, Commander Hadfield not only took hundreds of photographs and conducted conferences with students on Earth, he took his stories to social media, catching the attention of the world. Hadfield, with the help of his sons Evan and Kyle, took the web by storm, creating popular presences on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, and more. His videos answered questions about everyday existence in zero-gravity with a dose of science mixed with humor. To top things off, Hadfield, also a musician, finished his command mission by releasing his own version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity", with Bowie's blessing. Gathered here are some photos of and by Commander Hadfield during his remarkable mission. [40 photos]



The Russian Soyuz space capsule, carrying Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, U.S. astronaut Tom Marshburn, and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, lands some 150 km (90 miles) southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan in central Kazakhstan, on May 14, 2013. The first Canadian astronaut to command the International Space Station (ISS) landed safely in Kazakhstan with two crewmates on Tuesday, wrapping up a five-month mission aboard the ISS. (Reuters/Mikhail Metzel)