Want to know what it's like being in space? Chris Hadfield gives us the tour.
Subtitled 'Life Lessons from Space' this book is packed full of wisdom that one can apply to ordinary life. Sweating the small stuff, aiming to be a zero, Hadfield identifies what makes him qualified to be an astronaut while retaining his ultimate lesson, humility.
It's a book that would have been tremendously useful while I was writing my long poem about the first astronaut in space, 'The First Man In Space', as it is full of authentic details about being up in space for so long. Handling the day to day practicalities of life in space, to the space walks with their awe-inspiring views, and singing Bowie's 'Space Oddity' become lessons in how to live life to the fullest, gaining the most out of each moment.
Hadfield was extremely helpful to me during the lock downs as we were all in our space stations under extreme conditions and gave ,me perspective on what it might be like to live in space. Understanding the risk of any given situation helps us better to prepare for the unexpected and helps us push past our fear. Hadfield is afraid of heights yet he is able to overcome this drawback in order to do his job.
He explains his first space walk 'It's like this, I think. It's like being engrossed in cleaning a pane of glass, then you look over your shoulder and realize you're hanging off the side of the Empire State Building, Manhattan sprawled vividly beneath and around you.' An experience to be remembered and shared as affirming and progressive.
This book has given me a greater appreciation for the rigours of going to space, from the examinations to get selected, to the post-flight treatment and more importantly insight into NASA's philosophy of working in a team and how, ultimately, we all share one planet and in it's magnificent beauty it's us who have to look after it for generations to come.
