ISS Commander Chris Hadfield Covers ‘Space Oddity’ in Space

Young people are not the mainstream media's target audience, but they are Hadfield's. The obvious undercurrent to his efforts is to get more kids interested in science, engineering, and potentially space travel; mainstream media doesn't get ratings out of that, so it isn't really worth covering for them. This Bowie cover seems to be gaining some steam, though; as another poster mentioned, I've heard about it from several people not in my usual "tech" circle.

Listening to the kids react in wonderment as he demonstrated wringing a towel out in orbit really drove home that he's reaching, and really reaching, the right audience in a way that NASA has struggled with for decades. He is exceedingly well-educated and is probably aware of declining interest in STEM among younger kids and especially declining interest in space travel as a whole. (I don't have data to back that up, just basic anecdotal experience much like you, but it seems true.)

Allow me to offer some anecdotal evidence to counter your speculation: in the waiting room at my doctor's office this morning, there were three little old ladies discussing his cover and how he's returning to Earth today.

(Mind you this is Canada where he's perhaps getting more press as a hometown boy done good)

Dodge Dart commercial - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUxPYXvTElA

> It takes many years.

One hell of an understatement: Hadfield was accepted as a trainee astronaut in 1992 and first flew in 2001. For the ISS alone, he got his slot in 2010 and trained until December 2012.

I met a backup astronaut (well, one who hadn't yet gone up to space) a few years ago...among her amazing engineering achievements, which I thought would've been enough for going into space, she was also a Division I NCAA track athlete.

The trials for Navy SEALS and other elite military ops are well-discussed...I wonder if NASA has any extreme tests they run...such as dropping off an astronaut on a remote island with nothing but flint and tinder and a shaving mirror and having to build a shelter with functioning refrigeration by the end of the week.

Here's hoping the next crew does such a good job at public outreach.

It's best that he doesn't.

"Most of what we have learned about living in space is that we should not live in space. We are designed for gravity; without it, strange things happen to both body and mind. For each month spent in space, humans can lose up to two per cent of their bone mass. This means that each day, for hours on end, the ISS becomes the world’s highest-flying gym to keep its occupants fit. But even with such precautions, some returning space travellers require months of rehabilitation to readjust to life on Earth. Others, despite having access to the best facilities and treatments available, experience headaches, sight loss, and undiagnosed physical and psychological frailty for the rest of their lives."

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/nature-and-cosmos/greg-klerkx-sp...

The most I've seen about Hadfield being Canadian is on YouTube where there are comments that basically amount to "Go America". There is the standard reply that "You know he is Canadian, right?".

As a US citizen, I'm uncomfortable with the constant jump by the masses to assume that everybody that does something has to be from the US. You are correct that the ISS is about international cooperation, so isn't it good the nations that are involved get their recognition?

I would have thought that if the I in ISS is about international cooperation, it would be important to emphasize, where it's not obvious, that the people in the station actually do come from different countries.