An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me about Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything

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Chris Hadfield decided to become an astronaut after watching the Apollo moon landing with his family on Stag Island, Ontario, when he was nine years old, and it was impossible for Canadians to be astronauts. In 2013, he served as Commander of the International Space Station orbiting the Earth during a five-month mission. Fulfilling this lifelong dream required intense focus, natural ability and a singular commitment to “thinking like an astronaut.” In An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, Chris gives us a rare insider’s perspective on just what that kind of thinking involves, and how earthbound humans can use it to achieve success and happiness in their lives. From the book, there's a lot that you can learn about the International Space Station (ISS) managed by multiple countries. This giant man made product revolved round the earth at a mind boggling speed of 27600 km/hour. At this speed ISS orbits the earth every 90 minutes, hence witnesses sunset or sunrise every 45 minutes! Boy, that would be some sight from the ISS! Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, and been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft. The secret to Col. Hadfield's success—and survival—is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst—and enjoy every moment of it.

Since first reading it in 2014 I have bought multiple copies for others, and have found that I often quote the concept of being a +1 that Chris Hadfield discussed in this book.Riveting, dramatic and intensely engrossing, Hadfield's engaging style as a writer puts you right alongside this almost absurdly compelling gentleman as he climbs the ladder from Canadian fighter pilot through two space shuttle missions and, ultimately, his serving as commander of the ISS."— The Huntington Beach Independent Like most astronauts, I’m pretty sure that I can deal with what life throws at me because I’ve thought about what to do if things go wrong, as well as right. That’s the power of negative thinking”. urn:lcp:astronautsguidet0000hadf:epub:b8f64f47-5a8b-4c11-b8ef-9107b227907f Foldoutcount 0 Grant_report Arcadia #4281 Identifier astronautsguidet0000hadf Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t73v8p25w Invoice 2089 Isbn 9781447257103 He even talks about how you should behave in our respective organisations at times of crisis. How you showcase your leadership qualities as and when needed and how your level headed understanding of various situations makes you a true leader. Leading by example on things that you can marvel on, is good, but at times you got to take a helicopter view and steer the show. Doing that too is also a good leadership and team manager quality.

No one was moving in a leisurely fashion, but the response was one of focused curiosity, as though we were dealing with an abstract puzzle rather than an imminent threat to our survival”. Chris Hadfield is one of the most seasoned and accomplished astronauts in the world. The top graduate of the U.S. Air Force test pilot school in 1988 and U.S. Navy test pilot of the year in 1991, Colonel Hadfield was selected to be an astronaut in 1992. He was CAPCOM for twenty-five shuttle launches and served as Director of NASA Operations in Star City, Russia from 2001-2003, Chief of Robotics at the Johnson Space Center in Houston from 2003-2006, and Chief of International Space Station Operations from 2006-2008. In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement— and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff.Once in my pajamas (Russian-made, long john-esque) I zipped myself into my hooded sleeping bag, which resembles a cocoon with armholes. From my Shuttle days, I knew that a dormant astronaut is an interesting sight, with both arms floating in front Frankenstein-style, hair fanned out like a mane and a facial expression of utter contentment. Turning off my little light, I was perfectly at ease in this otherworldly place, knowing that in Houston and Korolev, people in Mission Control were keeping watch as we spun through the sky and into sleep, on our journey around and around the world.” I learned a lot while reading this book, but my main takeaway is that Chris Hadfield is a really, really nice guy. Reading similar books I often think "wow, this guy is an ass but he gets the job done, so I guess it is fine?" Hadfield has every reason to be a jerk, but his attitude and humbleness is so refreshing and contrasting when compared to a lot of people who reached his level of success. If there was a medical emergency or major equipment failure - the crew mates would be the only hope of survival. For all intents and purposes they'd be the last people in the world. It is so refreshing to read about Hadfield's lifelong dedication and commitment to achieve his boyhood aspirations. It is all too common nowadays in my working experience in dealing with the younger generation where self-entitlement is so prevalent that these two attributes are becoming increasingly rare. Instant gratification and shortcuts are preferred over having the experience of undertaking the journey and the satisfaction of having reached the destination through one's diligence and dedication. Hadfield himself wrote a line which encapsulated the meaning of journey before destination. Aeronautics aside, this book could have been called "How to make friends and influence people - the Chris Hadfield way". Like everyone else I ended up adoring the man, but he sure is a preacher, and the book is plump with sermons about being humble, being kind to one's fellow men, the goodness of practice, practice, practice, the importance of being a team player, and loving your family.... All this preaching though is underpinned with solid of examples of Hadfield being an absolutely sterling human being , including having a sense of humour about his tendency to pontificate.

This said, I found this to be a difficult read partly due to the repetitive and "take my advice I know better" tone. Yes it is best to be a team player, yes strive to be a zero, yes sweat the little stuff before it becomes big stuff. All are valuable lessons to be learned but I felt it needed more about the daily life on ISS or the interesting behind the scenes things about how a kid from Sarnia, Canada, makes it to command the ISS (which we do hear about, but I wanted more). The longer the flight, the more important personalities become. When you can’t even go outside to let off steam, personality conflicts can compromise a mission or derail it altogether. It’s not enough to shelve your own competitive streak. You have to try, consciously, to help others succeed. Some people feel this is like shooting themselves in the foot – why aid someone else in creating a competitive advantage? I don’t look at it that way. Helping someone else look good doesn’t make me look worse. In fact, it often improves my own performance, particularly in stressful situations." (p.159-160) Time-honored astronaut traditions make us feel we’re part of the tribe , and there were plenty of them during our final hours in quarantine. Some were less picturesque than others. The night before we launched, we gave ourselves an enema, followed , after a suitable interval, by another one. While this did not feel like my finest hour in space exploration, it was definitely preferable to soiling my diaper the next day. Afterward, a doctor took swabs of all parts of my body - behind my ears, my tongue, my crotch - to see if I had any infections, then rubbed me down with alcohol just in case I did.” It sounds strange, probably, but having a pessimistic view of my own prospects helped me love my job”.P/S: I'm looking forward to read Hadfield's debut mystery thriller, The Apollo Murders. Watch this space.

Each time you manage to do that your comfort zone expands a little, so if you ever face that particular problem in real life, you’re able to think clearly”. Working underwater and then in the air has at times been life threatening. But since 2014, having read this book has made that journey distinctly easier through the insights it gives into how very much more extreme challenges can be! You might never be able to build a robot, pilot a spacecraft, make a music video or perform basic surgery in zero gravity like Col. Hadfield. But his vivid and refreshing insights will teach you how to think like an astronaut, and will change, completely, the way you view life on Earth—especially your own.

In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement — and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff.