Canadian astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield has become a scientific celebrity since he started tweeting videos of everyday life on the International Space Station and covered the David Bowie song "Space Oddity" while in zero gravity.
He is now retired from his career in space, but has become a fierce advocate for the space station and exploration.
“We don't know what 95 percent of the universe is even made of, and we can figure that out, hopefully, using the space station,” he told the NewsHour’s Miles O’Brien. “So it is both a great source of invention and research, but also an unbeatable point of inspiration for the planet.”
Most of all, Hadfield is known for his ability to communicate with Earthlings who have never had the opportunity to leave the planet.
“I was a kid growing up who would have loved the opportunity to meet an astronaut or to get some more insight. I wrote to NASA for them to mail me stuff. And I watched what the Apollo astronauts did, and it kind of set really strongly in me that, if I ever get an opportunity to do something like this, I'm going to do everything I can to share it with people,” he said.
Warm up questions
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What do you know about the International Space Station? Who works there? What kind of work do they do?
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Are you familiar with Astronaut Chris Hadfield? What do you know about him?
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Why do we explore space? Do you think exploring space is an important scientific mission? Why or why not?
Discussion questions
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How would your life be different if you lived in the space station? Think of tasks, hobbies, jobs, etc.
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If you could ask Col. Hadfield one question, what would it be?
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The correspondent mentioned in the video that the space station has cost taxpayers around the world about $100 billion dollars so far. Do you think this money has been well spent? Is space exploration is worth the cost? Why or why not?
