Chris Hadfield and the International Space Station
million miles 113 2 million kilometers This made him one of the most experienced space travelers of all time
BECOMING AN ASTRONAUT Chris Hadfield’s life changed forever on July 20 1969 That evening he watched live TV footage as Neil Armstrong climbed out of his spacecraft and became the first person to step onto the Moon Chris was just nine years old but he was already certain of one thing he wanted to be an astronaut Edwin Buzz Aldrin was the second human to step onto the Moon from Apollo 11 in 1969 The first to land was Neil Armstrong who took this picture INTO THE AIR There was one big problem The U S space program was run by the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Back then NASA only accepted U S citizens for astronaut training Chris Hadfield is a Canadian Not wanting to give up so soon Hadfield did the next best thing He joined the Air Force division of the Canadian Armed Forces At training school he was named top pilot in 1980 and top graduate in 1983 In 1988 he went on to become a test pilot in the United States flying new types of aircraft and engines This was very dangerous work but he showed he had exceptional skills in the air ASTRONAUT AT LAST Hadfield’s big break came in 1992 The Canadian Space Agency announced it was hiring astronauts who would train with NASA He applied right away but there were 5,329 other applicants After many weeks of interviews he was told he was one of only four candidates to be selected
Yuri Gagarin was the first person in space The space pioneers First satellite sending signals from space Sputnik Russia October 1957
