As if being the first Canadian to walk in space wasn’t enough, astronaut Chris Hadfield has become a social media phenomenon, amassing over 912,000 followers on Twitter and over 311,000 Facebook fans, all while making the Magnum P.I. moustache cool again. To celebrate his return to earth last night after 144 days on the International Space Station, we count down the eight coolest, weirdest and awesomely-nerdiest things Hadfield did while in orbit.
8) He was loudly and proudly the first member of Leafs Nation in space.
7) He conducted one of the most popular Reddit AMA’s of all time, and was incredibly candid about the threat from meteorites.
6) He showed what crying in space looks like. (That ball of water in his eye was one of the coolest things we’ve ever seen.)
5) He reported to Captain Kirk.
4) He answered burning questions like what astronauts eat in space, and how they sleep, brush their teeth, and vomit.
3) He participated in a sing-a-long with the Barenaked Ladies and the glee choir of Toronto’s Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts.
2) He posted hundreds of photos to to his Facebook and Twitter, which were often sweet, humorous and seasonally appropriate, and always breathtaking.
1) In response to a Reddit request, he recorded his own version of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” thereby giving the world its first ever music video shot in space. Even Bowie approved.
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