Podcast: A Chat with Astronaut Chris Hadfield

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Alan Alda recently interviewed Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield to discuss his space work, singing career, and recent book. You can catch all of it on Mr. Alda’s podcast Clear+Vivid. For instance, Mr. Hadfield notes that he used duct tape on the International Space Station (ISS) to cover over bullet-sized holes in the station’s exterior handrails torn up by space debris. This is not exactly a high-tech solution, but it works and prevents the rough edges of the damaged rails from tearing into this space suit.

Mr. Hadfield also shares his story about the time he was blinded during an ISS space walk. Amazingly, he continued with the eight-hour space walk after a quick fix bled air from his suit and restored his vision.

You can also learn about the work that went into his now famous space-based version of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” (see below). He notes that he had plenty of time on the ISS to write his own songs as well.

And should you be looking for a good adventure book, Mr. Hadfield book The Apollo Murders may solve that craving. It has enough real space stories intertwined within this thriller to keep it interesting. Here is the blurb for the book:

1973: a final, top-secret mission to the Moon. Three astronauts in a tiny spaceship, a quarter million miles from home. A quarter million miles from help.

NASA is about to launch Apollo 18. While the mission has been billed as a scientific one, flight controller Kazimieras “Kaz” Zemeckis knows there is a darker objective. Intelligence has discovered a secret Soviet space station spying on America, and Apollo 18 may be the only chance to stop it.

But even as Kaz races to keep the NASA crew one step ahead of their Russian rivals, a deadly accident reveals that not everyone involved is quite who they were thought to be. With political stakes stretched to the breaking point, the White House and the Kremlin can only watch as their astronauts collide on the lunar surface, far beyond the reach of law or rescue.

Full of the fascinating technical detail that fans of The Martian loved, and reminiscent of the thrilling claustrophobia, twists, and tension of The Hunt for Red October, The Apollo Murders is a high-stakes thriller unlike any other. Chris Hadfield captures the fierce G-forces of launch, the frozen loneliness of space, and the fear of holding on to the outside of a spacecraft orbiting the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour as only someone who has experienced all of these things in real life can.

Strap in and count down for the ride of a lifetime.

Alan Alda calls Mr. Hadfield a great communicator for space programs. Given all of his efforts and talents, it is hard to disagree.

Image (Credit): Chris Hadfield’s video singing “Space Oddity” on the ISS. (Canadian Space Agency)
Image (Credit): Chris Hadfield’s latest book. (Mulholland Books)

Cosmonauts Arrive at the International Space Station

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Soyuz MS-21 crew ship with three cosmonauts aboard approaches the International Space Station. (NASA)

On Friday, a Soyuz space capsule arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) with three Russian cosmonauts –  Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, and Sergey Korsakov. This will bring the ISS crew to 10. On March 30th, three crew members will return to the surface of the Earth – NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov. You can read more about the mission here.

With the ongoing disagreements between the Russian and Western governments regarding Ukraine, it is good to see some normal operations related to the ISS. Let’s hope the science can continue in space while discussions continue back here on Earth to end the ongoing war.

Update: The media was abuzz regarding the blue and yellow outfits of the three astronauts arriving at the station. Was it support for Ukraine or their alma mater? One cosmonaut said there was simply an excess of yellow material. Another space mystery.

The Future of the International Space Station

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Image(Credit): Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter approaching the International Space Station (NASA).

Over the weekend, the Washington Post published an editorial by Homer Hickam, former NASA engineer and advisor to the National Space Council, titled, “Our space partnership with Russia can’t go on.” In the piece, Mr. Hickam argues that the International Space Station (ISS) has accomplished its goals and the US can now move onto other projects without the Russians:

With our flourishing commercial space companies, who are already cutting metal on their own future space stations, plus our federal government’s Artemis moon program, the United States is entering a new golden age of space exploration. The Russians, meanwhile, are stuck in the past with antiquated spacecraft and nowhere to go except the ISS.

Mr. Hickam appears to believe pushing out the Russians may mean the end of the ISS. Of course, this is just one man’s view, and whatever we do we need to do it in conjunction with our other ISS partners.

We could continue to maintain the ISS through 2030, as planned, and schedule more useful science even without the Russians as partners. This may make sense until we have another viable station that we can use, such as NASA’s planned lunar Gateway. Russia will not be part of the Gateway given that it is working with China on other lunar plans, so we do not need to worry about another breakup.

It would be better if Russia had focused on its space accomplishments rather than territorial ambitions as it prepares for the future. Joint space programs are a great way to use rockets for peaceful missions. I am not against a space race that pushes us even farther into space, yet I would prefer it be fueled by scientific achievement rather than nationalist angst.

Image(Credit): Artist rendering of the Artemis lunar Gateway (NASA).

More Angst Regarding the International Space Station

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Source/Credit: Image of Russian section breaking away from the ISS from NASA Watch.

You may have already seen this ridiculous Russian video that NASA Watch shared with the world. It is very disturbing. Presumably created by the Russian space program Roscosmos, it shows the Russian portion of the International Space Station (ISS) breaking away as a result of the worldwide sanctions against the Russians for invading Ukraine. Here is the NASA Watch tweet and related video (an image of which is shown above):

Russian gov’t-controlled RIA Novosti @rianru posted a video on Telegram made by @Roscosmos where cosmonauts say goodbye to Mark Vande Hei on #ISS, depart, and then the Russian segment detaches from the rest of ISS. @Rogozin is clearly threatening the ISS program. #NASA#Ukraine

One person provided some hope among all this foolishness with this reply:

Basically all astro-/ cosmonauts said that after a couple of days in space they only see a fragile planet, and that nation states start to disappear in their minds.

And now we have former US astronaut Scott Kelly and SpaceX’s Elon Musk battling with Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos. Scott Kelly was clear in his dislike of Rogozin’s comments about the ISS:

Maybe you could find yourself a job working at McDonalds if McDonalds still exists in Russia.

None of this is helpful when we have lives in space depending on a competent ground team. Let’s hope all these egos do not get in the way of the professionalism we expect from the US, Russia, and others with regards to the safe operation of the ISS.

Pic of the Week: Lunar Transit

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Source/Credit: Thierry Legault

This week’s photo is a “lunar transit” of the International Space Station (ISS) taken on January 18, 2022. The details in the photo are impressive, including Tycho crater. The Mashable article accompanying this image states:

The silhouette of the space station is so clear, observers can make out a faint grid pattern on its solar panel arrays. The attached SpaceX Crew-3 spacecraft, which brought up NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, as well as European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer in November, is easily identifiable.