This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/feb/22/chris-hadfield-canada-superstar-astronaut
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Chris Hadfield: the superstar astronaut taking social media by storm | Chris Hadfield: the superstar astronaut taking social media by storm |
| (7 months later) | |
| A few weeks ago, Chris Hadfield did not generate much name recognition, even in his native Canada. The 53-year-old may have been the country's most experienced astronaut, the first Canadian to walk in space and a veteran of two Shuttle missions, but few people would have stopped him in the street to ask for an autograph. Then, on December 21, Hadfield arrived at the International Space Station for his latest mission and everything changed. | A few weeks ago, Chris Hadfield did not generate much name recognition, even in his native Canada. The 53-year-old may have been the country's most experienced astronaut, the first Canadian to walk in space and a veteran of two Shuttle missions, but few people would have stopped him in the street to ask for an autograph. Then, on December 21, Hadfield arrived at the International Space Station for his latest mission and everything changed. |
| In a deliberate campaign to take Earth by storm, Hadfield harnessed the power of social media to inspire the sort of interest in space exploration that Nasa and other agencies have been trying to attract for more than a decade. In the process, he is on the way to becoming a breakthrough star in his own right, the first internationally recognisable astronaut since the grainy black and white television images made Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and the original Apollo astronauts into superstars. | In a deliberate campaign to take Earth by storm, Hadfield harnessed the power of social media to inspire the sort of interest in space exploration that Nasa and other agencies have been trying to attract for more than a decade. In the process, he is on the way to becoming a breakthrough star in his own right, the first internationally recognisable astronaut since the grainy black and white television images made Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and the original Apollo astronauts into superstars. |
| Arid fingers of sand-blasted rock look like they're barely holding on against the hot Saharan wind. twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/… | Arid fingers of sand-blasted rock look like they're barely holding on against the hot Saharan wind. twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/… |
| — Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) February 20, 2013 | — Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) February 20, 2013 |
| Hadfield has used his Twitter feed and high-powered camera to bring the beauty of the world's curves, protrusions and colours – as well as the banalities of space – to hundreds of thousands of people on social media. | Hadfield has used his Twitter feed and high-powered camera to bring the beauty of the world's curves, protrusions and colours – as well as the banalities of space – to hundreds of thousands of people on social media. |
| With seemingly incessant 140-character bursts accompanied by stunning photographs shot from a glassed-in section at the bottom of the space station orbiting 400km above the Earth, the former fighter pilot with a love of music and a poet's turn of phrase has seen a 15-fold increase in Twitter followers since he blasted off on a Soyuz rocket before Christmas. | With seemingly incessant 140-character bursts accompanied by stunning photographs shot from a glassed-in section at the bottom of the space station orbiting 400km above the Earth, the former fighter pilot with a love of music and a poet's turn of phrase has seen a 15-fold increase in Twitter followers since he blasted off on a Soyuz rocket before Christmas. |
| It's not just Twitter. He took part in an "epic" 'Ask-Me-Anything' session on Reddit on Sunday – under the headline 'I am astronaut Chris Hadfield, currently orbiting planet Earth' – that drew 7,786 comments and comparisons with great Reddit appearances by the likes of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. He has made slick YouTube videos about life on the space station. And on Friday he and two of his colleagues will do Nasa's first live Google+ Hangout from space, answering questions submitted by followers during a live video downlink. | It's not just Twitter. He took part in an "epic" 'Ask-Me-Anything' session on Reddit on Sunday – under the headline 'I am astronaut Chris Hadfield, currently orbiting planet Earth' – that drew 7,786 comments and comparisons with great Reddit appearances by the likes of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. He has made slick YouTube videos about life on the space station. And on Friday he and two of his colleagues will do Nasa's first live Google+ Hangout from space, answering questions submitted by followers during a live video downlink. |
| Forbes magazine went so far as to describe him as the "most social media-savvy astronaut ever to leave the Earth". | Forbes magazine went so far as to describe him as the "most social media-savvy astronaut ever to leave the Earth". |
| But the Guardian can reveal that this social media blitz is no accident. It is part of plan cooked up before Hadfield's latest mission began, and is in fact the brainchild of his web-savvy sons. Kyle, 29, came up with the idea to get his father 's space message out through Twitter, while Evan Hadfield, 27, occupies the unofficial mission control at his post in Darmstadt, south of Frankfurt in Germany. | But the Guardian can reveal that this social media blitz is no accident. It is part of plan cooked up before Hadfield's latest mission began, and is in fact the brainchild of his web-savvy sons. Kyle, 29, came up with the idea to get his father 's space message out through Twitter, while Evan Hadfield, 27, occupies the unofficial mission control at his post in Darmstadt, south of Frankfurt in Germany. |
| Evan has neither a jumpsuit nor the badges, and he is unpaid, despite devoting up to 16 hours of each day to run his father's various social media sites, including Facebook, Tumblr and Google+. | Evan has neither a jumpsuit nor the badges, and he is unpaid, despite devoting up to 16 hours of each day to run his father's various social media sites, including Facebook, Tumblr and Google+. |
| "Dad wanted a way to help people connect the real side of what an astronaut's life is – not just the glamour and science, but also the day-to-day activities," Evan Hadfield told the Guardian, noting that neither Nasa nor the Canadian Space Agency manages the images posted to the web or interactions with the astronaut's 420,000 followers. "He posts to Twitter and I work with him to help spread that information to the rest of the internet." | "Dad wanted a way to help people connect the real side of what an astronaut's life is – not just the glamour and science, but also the day-to-day activities," Evan Hadfield told the Guardian, noting that neither Nasa nor the Canadian Space Agency manages the images posted to the web or interactions with the astronaut's 420,000 followers. "He posts to Twitter and I work with him to help spread that information to the rest of the internet." |
| Beijing - Tiananmen Square still bright with echoes of the Chinese New Year celebrations. twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/… | Beijing - Tiananmen Square still bright with echoes of the Chinese New Year celebrations. twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/… |
| — Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) February 20, 2013 | — Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) February 20, 2013 |
| The effect of Hadfield's undertaking, which has featured breathtaking photographs of January's Australian wildfires, a spider's web of Beijing streetlights and the green hue of the northern lights overlooking Britain, follows in the great tradition of Armstrong and Aldrin's moon landing in 1969, or the Apollo 8 crew's photo in 1968 of the earth rising on the moon's curved horizon, which helped fire the public's enthusiasm for space exploration and inspire the current generation of astronauts. | The effect of Hadfield's undertaking, which has featured breathtaking photographs of January's Australian wildfires, a spider's web of Beijing streetlights and the green hue of the northern lights overlooking Britain, follows in the great tradition of Armstrong and Aldrin's moon landing in 1969, or the Apollo 8 crew's photo in 1968 of the earth rising on the moon's curved horizon, which helped fire the public's enthusiasm for space exploration and inspire the current generation of astronauts. |
| "He's managing to grab the attention of segments of the public that were not typically interested in the space program," said rookie Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques, referring to the younger generation who are drawn by Hadfield's stunning photos and often wistful descriptions. | "He's managing to grab the attention of segments of the public that were not typically interested in the space program," said rookie Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques, referring to the younger generation who are drawn by Hadfield's stunning photos and often wistful descriptions. |
| "These are people that Nasa and other space agencies have tried, but not been very successful, reaching out to." | "These are people that Nasa and other space agencies have tried, but not been very successful, reaching out to." |
| It is not for lack of trying, said former Canadian astronaut Dave Williams, who was selected for the space program in 1992 along with Hadfield, then a test pilot. The two men were involved in one of the earlier attempts to broadcast a video seminar to the web during an underwater mission in 2001. It was a "test case" for what might one day be done in space. | It is not for lack of trying, said former Canadian astronaut Dave Williams, who was selected for the space program in 1992 along with Hadfield, then a test pilot. The two men were involved in one of the earlier attempts to broadcast a video seminar to the web during an underwater mission in 2001. It was a "test case" for what might one day be done in space. |
| But until recently, the only option for astronauts hoping to spread the gospel of space travel was to snap their photos and stash them away until they embarked on the terrestrial post-mission lecture circuit. "What Chris has done very well is something that all of us astronauts aspire to do and that is to share the dream," Williams said. | But until recently, the only option for astronauts hoping to spread the gospel of space travel was to snap their photos and stash them away until they embarked on the terrestrial post-mission lecture circuit. "What Chris has done very well is something that all of us astronauts aspire to do and that is to share the dream," Williams said. |
| Cape Town, South Africa, the glinting sun highlighting the water. twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/… | Cape Town, South Africa, the glinting sun highlighting the water. twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/… |
| — Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) February 21, 2013 | — Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) February 21, 2013 |
| As a matter of course now, astronauts are trained not only in the technical skills necessary to conduct scientific experiments and manipulate the space station's sophisticated equipment. They are also outfitted with Twitter accounts and undergo formal social media training. | As a matter of course now, astronauts are trained not only in the technical skills necessary to conduct scientific experiments and manipulate the space station's sophisticated equipment. They are also outfitted with Twitter accounts and undergo formal social media training. |
| It is all with an eye to engaging public interest for longer than the few minutes that it takes for the rocket's countdown, blast-off and disappearance beyond the clouds, as well as instilling the knowledge that the space station has been inhabited continuously for more than a decade. Astronauts don't just travel into space, in other words—they live there. | It is all with an eye to engaging public interest for longer than the few minutes that it takes for the rocket's countdown, blast-off and disappearance beyond the clouds, as well as instilling the knowledge that the space station has been inhabited continuously for more than a decade. Astronauts don't just travel into space, in other words—they live there. |
| And Hadfield has illustrated how life in space includes both the mysterious and the mundane. He has beamed back video showing how astronauts prepare meals. He has explained why tears sting in space, because they stick in one's tear ducts rather than roll down one's face. He has taken his guitar to the space station, both to pass the little spare time he has and to record original music, including a recent collaborative effort with Canadian pop band the Barenaked Ladies. | And Hadfield has illustrated how life in space includes both the mysterious and the mundane. He has beamed back video showing how astronauts prepare meals. He has explained why tears sting in space, because they stick in one's tear ducts rather than roll down one's face. He has taken his guitar to the space station, both to pass the little spare time he has and to record original music, including a recent collaborative effort with Canadian pop band the Barenaked Ladies. |
| "It's timely because we're there now," said Saint-Jacques. "We have to view space exploration, space crafts, the space station as a place where people live, not just as life rafts where you barely survive." | "It's timely because we're there now," said Saint-Jacques. "We have to view space exploration, space crafts, the space station as a place where people live, not just as life rafts where you barely survive." |
| There is, admittedly, some jealousy from those who boldly went before Hadfield. Aldrin, who now promotes a private space-travel initiative for deodorant firm Axe, has said he and Armstrong would have loved to tweet their historic moon walk, but that he is now holding out until he can communicate with his followers from Mars, "maybe by 2040." | There is, admittedly, some jealousy from those who boldly went before Hadfield. Aldrin, who now promotes a private space-travel initiative for deodorant firm Axe, has said he and Armstrong would have loved to tweet their historic moon walk, but that he is now holding out until he can communicate with his followers from Mars, "maybe by 2040." |
| Seven billion hearts, but I can see only one. #ValentineFromSpace twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/… | Seven billion hearts, but I can see only one. #ValentineFromSpace twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/… |
| — Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) February 14, 2013 | — Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) February 14, 2013 |
| Canada's first man in space, Marc Garneau, said he too would have loved to have such an outlet during his career, which included three space flights. It would have helped him to share the wonders and beauty that he witnessed as well as escape the relative isolation that earlier generations of astronauts had to endure. | Canada's first man in space, Marc Garneau, said he too would have loved to have such an outlet during his career, which included three space flights. It would have helped him to share the wonders and beauty that he witnessed as well as escape the relative isolation that earlier generations of astronauts had to endure. |
| "You need that feeling that you haven't been abandoned up there. You need to feel that there are a whole bunch of people on the ground that are watching over you," he said. "I think the connection is much stronger now because [Hadfield] has all these people who are tweeting to him and he's tweeting to them." | "You need that feeling that you haven't been abandoned up there. You need to feel that there are a whole bunch of people on the ground that are watching over you," he said. "I think the connection is much stronger now because [Hadfield] has all these people who are tweeting to him and he's tweeting to them." |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |
Previous version
1
Next version