Carolyn Jarvis: As Canada's most accomplished astronaut,
Chris Hadfield has gone farther and faster
than almost anyone in the world.
He's flown two suttle missions,
been the voice of mission control,
and has even lived underwater for two weeks,
as part of his elite space training.
Now, at 52,
Hadfield is about to set another milestone.
And as he prepares for that venture,
we wanted to get to know the Canadian rocket man,
who, as Paul Johnson discovered,
has his feet firmly planted on the ground.
Man (over radio): Have a good mission,
and we'll see you back here in about 8 days.
Hadfield (over radio): Let me answer that, thanks very much sir,
we sure appreciate the help.
Man (over radio): You have clearance locked.
Johnson VO: This man is counting down
to the adventure of a lifetime.
And he's a guy who's had an adventure or two already.
Hadfield: I have been one of the luckiest guys on earth.
Johnson VO: But a lot of Chris Hadfield's luck
hasn't been on earth at all.
In fact, you could say it's been out of this world.
(Rockets firing)
Man (over radio): 2, 1 and lift off!
Of space shuttle Atlantis, with the Russian docking module.
Hadfield VO: The whole world is rolling by outside your window,
where you can see every place on earth,
That - that's a pretty special thing to see.
(moody instrumental music)
Hadfield: I'm Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.
I have had the incredible privilege
of flying in space
not once, not twice, but three times.
Johnson VO: Chris Hadfield has piloted the fastest planes,
flown on two space shuttle missions,
been the first Canadian to walk in space.
Now, this country's most accomplished astronaut
is preparing for his most challenging job yet.
Man (over radio): Give me a high five, Chris.
Johnson VO: In March 2013,
Chris Hadfield will be the first Canadian
to command the International Space Station.
Johnson: The one question that everybody has asked, is:
How's a guy gonna get a beer up there?
Hadfield: (laughs)
Yeah, it's a long time without a lot of the normal things
that make life interesting, and relaxed, and fun.
(upbeat folk music)
To do something really complicated,
that you've trained most of your whole life for,
and to do it well, and to do it successfully,
and to be trusted to do it,
there's a great pride and satisfaction in that.
So, there's pleasure in all those things,
and a beer can wait six months.
(moody instrumental music)
Johnson VO: Chris's next mission
puts him in a very select group of space voyagers.
(radio chatter)
Johnson: What are you going to do when you're there,
and what are you thinking about?
Hadfield VO: All the things that can fail.
A fire in the spaceship.
A fire in a spaceship is an awful thing.
Or, if we get hit by a meteorite, and there's a sudden, dramatic leak,
or a contaminated atmosphere.
Normally, it's a very flat command.
(beeping, radio chatter)
But when things go bad, that's when everyone needs
one leader to say, This is what we're doing now.
This is what we're doing next,
and this is how we're going to save our life,
or save the Station, or save the program.
Living on the International Space Station
and commanding a spaceship -
It is a dream come true for me.
Something I dreamed about since I was 9 years old.
Johnson VO: But Chris has done a lot more than dream
since the day he watched a man walk on the moon.
Neil Armstrong (over radio): That's one small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind.
Hadfield: I've been an astronaut for almost 20 years,
and I've worked up through a lot of different jobs.
(heavy metal rock guitar riff)
Johnson VO: A few of those "jobs" include:
U.S. Navy Test Pilot of the year in 1991,
and flying the first CF-18 intercept of a Soviet bomber
as a Norad pilot in the days of the Cold War.
(roaring of jet engines)
(heavy rock instrumental)
Hadfield: When the horn went off,
we scrambled to airborne within 12 minutes from a dead sleep,
to be in the F-18 and airborne and headed out off the coast
and then to get out there and intercept the Soviet bomber,
before they could get close enough,
fly up in the dark of night, up behind them,
and then come up on their wing,
and with my baby finger, turn on this enormous light
on the side of the CF-18, and identify exactly what type it was,
what their purpose was...
Man (over radio): Atlantis, it's Houston, good morning.
Time to wake up and do the right stuff today with that docking module.
Hadfield (over radio): Four inches... now.
(buzzer sounds)
Man (over radio): We have capture!
Johnson VO: A decade later,
Chris was in earth orbit,
shaking hands with his former enemy,
when he docked with the Russian Mir Space Station
in a friendship mission.
(soft music)
Hadfield: The shining example
of international cooperation and success,
is the International Space Station.
It flies in the face of history.
And it flies in the face of a lot of very recent emnities.
But at the same time, it flies.
And we're doing this thing together.
Man (over radio): And most of all, being and working with friends
has been an experience that none of us will ever forget.
(acoustic guitar)
(over radio): And from the edge of our seats on the ground
we will be with you as our proud heritage unfolds our future
to christen Canada's place in space.
Johnson VO: Then there was the moment, 10 years ago,
when he stepped out, free floating, into space
for the first time.
Hadfield: You are holding on to a human creation
the spaceship, with one hand,
and when you look to your right,
there's the whole universe, just right there.
Going on forever.
And when you look to your left,
the whole world is just pouring by next to you,
I found it stupefying.
I found it dumbfounding.
Just the inherent beauty of it,
the velvet, bottomless bucket of the universe,
and the textures, and the rainbow colours,
just like this wonderful exploding kaleidescope,
next to you all the time.
And you're alone, in the middle of that
and your only link to the other 6 billion people
and all of history and all of beauty and poetry
and everything that is human,
is linked in one hand.
(soaring music)
Johnson VO: It's the need to understand that infinite beauty
that brings Chris and his fellow astronauts out into space.
(radio chatter)
Hadfield: The purpose of being up there is -
is the exploration and the science
the hundreds of experiments that are on board,
the gathering of dark matter and dark energy,
from the universe, and the alphamagnetic spectrometer.
That is why we built the Space Station,
but we didn't just put robots on board,
we have people.
Hadfield (over radio): Look how close that thing is!
Man (over radio): That sucker is right there...
Hadfield (over radio): Good lord!
Man (over radio): Did we really do this?
(laughter)
Man (over radio): Nice job! Good job, man!
Hadfield (over radio): Well done, buddy! Well done!
Johnson VO: In just 15 months,
Chris Hadfield will be in charge of those people in space.
Before that day comes,
even a guy this accomplished has a few things to learn.
(uplifting violin music)
Jarvis VO: Next on 16x9,
Rockets don't have rear-view mirrors
Hadfield: Don't look back, that's not where your going.
(engine roaring)
Roger Hadfield: ...if you're going to grow apples, you...
Johnson VO: This ordinary farm in Milton, Ontario
is where a most extraordinary Canadian grew up.
It's where this average couple
raised a far from average son.
Johnson: What is the tip for raising an astronaut?
Roger: A lot of love, and a lot of care, and a lot of training.
Johnson VO: That, and one more thing
that Roger Hadfield wanted us to see:
this 1949 bi-plane, made mostly of wood, wire, and fabric.
Roger: Strap the kids on the wing, Chris looked up,
he said "Oh, a golden airplane!"
Johnson VO: At the age of 3, this little boy experienced
the thrill of leaving the earth's surface for the first time.
Fast forward to July 20th, 1969,
and Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon.
In an instant, a 9-year-old boy's future was set.
Eleanor Hadfield: That's when he decided - to himself -
he didn't say too much about it, but -
that would be a very nice way to make a living.
(ominous piano music)
Johnson VO: But space exploration can be a hazardous profession.
Jack Lousma (over radio): This is Houston. Say again please.
Jim Lovell (over radio): Houston, we've had a problem.
Johnson VO: In 1970, an on-board explosion
almost brought a disastrous end to the Apollo 13 moon misson.
Announcer Hugh Harris (over radio): Lift off!
Of the 25th space shuttle mission, and it is clear -
Johnson VO: During the space shuttle era,
two of the orbiters exploded on missons,
(radio chatter)
killing all aboard.
Steve Nesbitt (over radio): This is mission control, Houston.
We have no additional word at this time.
Johnson: You still worry about your son
Eleanor: No.
There's four pilots in my family.
I stopped worrying about my men flying a long time ago.
They do their very -
They prepare, there's always a risk,
we know that, we accept that.
But - just the joy of seeing them achieve
what they worked so hard to acheive...
No. It - There's no fear there.
(jet engines roaring)
Mr. Hadfield VO: When he first started,
a Canadian couldn't even be an astronaut.
To come - to reach the point where you command the Space Station -
It's a world recognition of Canada.
Eleanor: And we'll be extremely proud of what he's doing.
Extremely.
(upbeat piano music)
Johnson VO: His home town of Milton, Ontario is proud of him too.
You can walk down Hadfield Way,
relax in Hadfield Park,
even send your kids to Chris Hadfield School.
Hadfield (over radio): Good morning to the students,
and all the teachers and staff,
at the Chris Hadfield Public School,
this is Chris Hadfield,
talking to you from the bottom of the ocean.
Johnson VO: And Chris is in school, too.
Intensive training, for his next mission.
Man: The shore is about five metres away,
and I'm ready to begin when you're ready.
Hadfield: I'm ready.
Johnson VO: Practising delicate maneouvering needed
to control the Canada Arm as it snags an unmanned supply ship.
Crewmate, American Tim Marshburn,
is confident that Hadfield has all the right stuff.
Marshburn VO: Well, first of all,
you've got to be technically very good in space flight,
and there's no better than Chris.
He's a fighter pilot, test pilot, but on top of that,
being very easy going, and being a good person to work with.
If you're going to be cooped up in a can
- with a beautiful view - for six months,
Chris is the guy you want to be with.
Hadfield: Whoa, we're about to get everybody!
Somebody get in front, sit down-
Johnson VO: And Hadfield is the kind of guy
you want to be with on earth, too.
Kid VO: You're cool!
Hadfield VO: You think so? I'm glad you think so!
Johnson VO: He's a fellow who gathers a crowd,
or in the case of this appearance
with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, an audience.
(acoustic guitar strumming)
Hadfield (singing): Big smoke, standing in the morning...
Johnson VO: But nothing compares to that great gig in the sky.
Hadfield VO: To be able to play a guitar,
with it floating weightless,
next to the huge bay window on the bottom of the station,
watching the world pour by...
Johnson VO: A world that keeps on spinning
and keeps on changing
Eleanor: My mother was born in 1908,
Wilbur and Orville Wright were still flying around.
And her grandson goes to the Space Station.
That's one lifetime!
Now, what our grandchildren will see in their lifetime,
who knows?
(soft piano music)
Johston VO: Chris Hadfield doesn't know either.
But whatever it is,
he knows it'll be worth the ride.
Hadfield VO: Don't look back, that's not where you're going.
Yes, accept things that have happened in the past,
but pay attention to where you're going in the future.
and focus on that.
Because that is your life.
(soaring music)
Jarvis VO: Next on 16x9,
What happens when this guy
(battle cry)
takes on a wild mob?