Chris Hadfield Reflects on How Much ISS has Changed Since First Visit

Since returning to Earth only a few months ago on Tuesday May 14, International Space Station Expedition 35 commander and social media sensation Chris Hadfield, or @Cmdr_Hadfield as he is known to his Twitter followers, has been getting used to life back on Earth, after spending nearly 5 months in space. Just two days after returning to Earth, I got the opportunity to ask Commander Hadfield about how much he feels the ISS has changed since his first visit in 2001.

"The Station was very much a work in progress when I visited back in 2001. The purpose of that flight was a shuttle assembly flight, and that's where I first had the opportunity to do spacewalks and build Canadarm2". Hadfield told me.

Hadfield during an EVA during his first visit to the ISS during STS-100

Hadfield, and his fellow Expedition 34/35 crew members Tom Marshburn and Roman Romanenko returned to Earth after spending several months aboard the largest and most expensive spacecraft ever built- but it wasn't always like that, as Hadfield went on to say:

"Station was barely functional when the second expedition was on board. We were Expedition 34/35 and at that time it was Expedition 2 and there was only one laboratory on board".

Since then times have changed. Currently there are over 130 experiments that the crew conduct throughout their increment, constantly working with teams from all over the world on the research being done in the microgravity environment found aboard the orbiting laboratory.

The station commander took time to pay homage to the space station's robotic arm- Canadarm2, which was built in low-Earth orbit by Hadfield during his visit in 2001. It is still operating on the station's exterior today, and is now being used to capture and dock visiting vehicles, such as SpaceX's Dragon capsule, and Japan's HTV Transfer Vehicle.

The Canadarm2 in work

"All Canadians should recognise that Canada built Canadarm2, and Canadarm2 built the space station".

Hadfield continued to mention that during his first visit to station during STS-100, the ISS was just a construction site, with smaller amounts of science being conducted compared to what can be achieved today. However, nowadays, the station is the size of a football field, and has living space similar in size to a five-bedroom house. It is fair to say that the International Space Station has certainly changed since it first became habitable, a change which is clearly visible to a man who got to call this place his home.

"It's sort of as if I was there when it was a construction site a decade ago, and now I got to go back and see the finished product, and it's great to be in a position to have seen both".

Hadfield became the first Canadian to command the International Space Station earlier this year. He returned to Earth on Tuesday May 14 after landing in his Soyuz capsule at 3:31 a.m. GMT in the steppe of Kazakhstan. Hadfield is just after completing a worldwide tour promoting his new book "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth", which is available in all good book stores now.

I Feel Like I've Been Looking Down at Our Fragile Oasis for the Past 5 Months

Back in December 2012, a trio of astronauts and cosmonauts launched from Kazakhstan bound for the International Space Station. They promised shots of our Earth from the vantage point of 250 miles above our heads. They didn't disappoint!

"The Moon, newly risen, perfect over a flowing blanket of cloud" Credit: Chris Hadfield

Since arriving at the orbiting outpost almost five months ago, Canadian Space Agency Astronaut and Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield, and Expedition 34/35 Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn of NASA, have sent social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+ into a frenzy, by posting around a dozen photos each day of completely random places scattered across on Earth. One minute Marshburn might post a picture of  Mount Etna in Italy puffing out smoke and gas from its vent, and a couple minutes later Hadfield might give us all a look at what Niagara Falls looks like from the space station.

For me, I have never felt so up to date and involved in what is being done on station. Every morning before I went to school, the first thing I would do would be to check Commander Hadfield's Twitter feed and get a small digest of what work would be conducted for the day on the orbiting laboratory- all summed up in 140 characters. Marvelous! What more could you want when you're rushing out the door!

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. I mean when these photos make national headlines all over the world you know that there's something special going on. It has allowed people to imagine they are inside the International Space Station, looking down at our fragile oasis and have that unique orbital perspective of our blue planet. 

"Leaving is bittersweet. It's been an unbelievable ride. Can't wait to see what's next!". credit: Tom Marshburn/NASA

Personally, I have had people who have no or very little interest or knowledge about what is being done on the ISS, coming up to me asking did I see the photo Tom Marshburn took of airplane contrails over Cork the previous day. That's pretty cool for me. It shows no matter how much you know or care about the manned space programme, you can still be stunned and encapsulated by these beautiful images beamed down from the guys. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some time in the future they renamed Flight Engineer to "Social Media Specialist" as an additional role for the astronauts at the rate it's going!

On a serious note, I think we all need to remember what an amazing achievement Expedition 35 really was scientifically. It's not like the guys have just been taking pictures since the moment they got up there. The departing crew set a record for the amount of experiments studied and completed in the entire 13 year history of the ISS-


 "On a science side.. we set a record for utilisation, for the amount of time that was spent and the amount of research done during our tenure here aboard Expedition 35" said Hadfield as he handed over command of the International Space Station to Expedition 36 Commander Pavel Vinogradov.

However, the hard work didn't not stop there. With a little under 4 days until Hadfield, Marshburn and fellow crew member Roman Romanenko were to return to Earth, an ammonia leak was spotted in the station's P6 Truss, prompting an emergency spacewalk. With just 48 hours notice, the spacewalk by Marshburn and Expedition 35/36 Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy could not have gone any better, with initial reports indicating the leak had been fixed and there was no more leaking.


"For me it all really came together in the last 3 days... For me this is just the personification of what the International Space Station is, and what the people mean to it".

Spaceflight finale: "To some this may look like a sunset. But it's a new dawn". credit: Chris Hadfield/CSA

-Chris Hadfield

As the crew prepared to close the hatch between the ISS and the Soyuz, in typical Chris Hadfield style, the commander reflected on the future as he posted his last photo from space.


"To some this may look like a sunset. But it's a new dawn"
-Chris Hadfield

Never before have us Earthlings been able to see and hear what it must be like to live aboard the International Space Station for nearly six months. We have been able to hear what it sounds like to run on the space station treadmill, float around from module to module inside this orbiting vessel, and what it sounds like when a Soyuz spacecraft docks, bringing three new crewmates to the station. We have never seen the crew answer questions from people all over the world quite like this, and I think they should be commended for this.

Keeping people up to date and sharing magnificent views is what makes people interested in space travel at the end of the day, and gives them that humble reminder with every photo that we all share this beautiful planet, and that we need to take care of it.

Expedition 35 Crew Lands Safely in Kazakhstan After 5 Months in Space

At 3:31 a.m. GMT the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft landed safely in Kazakhstan, bringing Expedition 34/35 crew members Chris Hadfield, Tom Marshburn and Roman Romanenko home after spending 146 days in space.

After arriving at the International Space Station on December 21 2012, the trio joined the Expedition 34 crew and ended up setting a record for the amount of science conducted on the orbiting laboratory since astronauts and cosmonauts began living on the space station in 2000.

The hard work continued as part of Expedition 35, an increment which included two EVAs(one of which was unplanned to fix an ammonia leak)- one Russian and one American. After spending 145 days aboard the ISS, it was time for Soyuz Commander Romanenko, and Flight Engineers Marshburn and Hadfield to close the hatches and say goodbye to their home for the past five months.

Hadfield, Romanenko and Marshburn shortly after landing
credit: NASA

Hatches between the ISS and the departing Soyuz were closed at 8:50 p.m. GMT. The crew then turned their attention to switching the Soyuz onto autonomous power and a series of leak checks were performed soon after.

The Soyuz then undocked from the International Space Station at 12:08 a.m. GMT, as the station flew 255 miles above eastern Mongolia. This officially marked the beginning of Expedition 36.

A series of deorbit burns were then performed at 2:37 a.m. GMT in order to set the Soyuz on course for a landing south-east of the Kazakh town of Dzhezkazgan. Landing itself occurred at 3:31 a.m. GMT in near perfect conditions.

The crew was then extracted one by one from the Soyuz capsule until all crew members sat on their individual recliner couches while being attended to by medical staff, before being carried away to the medical tent which had been set up for the landing process.


The station will remain a three man crew until the launch of the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft carrying Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikin, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg and ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, which is scheduled for May 28.

Same Day Delivery: Expedition 35 Crew Arrives at ISS in Less Than Six Hours

The Soyuz TMA-08M crew has arrived at the International Space Station after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz TMA-08M launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 8:43 p.m. GMT
Credit: NASA

The trio, made up of cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov, Aleksandr Misurkin and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, launched aboard their Soyuz spacecraft from the same launch pad used by Yuri Gagarin in 1961, lifting into the Kazakhstan sky at 8:43 p.m GMT.

However, what makes this Soyuz mission to the ISS special is that is is the first time a crew launching to the station used the six-hour rendezvous flight profile, previously tested on the last two Progress resupply missions to the orbiting laboratory.

Launch, rendezvous and docking to the space station in all previous Soyuz flights took two days to do so if all went according to plan. Today, the new trio arrived at their home for the next six moths in less time than it takes to fly a plane from London to New York!

The trio docked to the station's Poisk module at 2:28 a.m. GMT over the Pacific Ocean, a little under six hours after launching from Baikonur.

All six Expedition 35 crew members aboard the ISS
Credit: NASA

The hatches between the Soyuz and the station's Poisk Module were opened at 4.35 a.m. GMT, when the crew was welcomed aboard by Station commander Chris Hadfield, Tom Marshburn and Roman Romanenko, restoring the station to its full complement of six crew members.


Speaking in a NASA social media event recently, Expedition 32/33 Flight Engineer Aki Hoshide of JAXA said "It's really cool... It's kind of interesting to see the transition from a two day rendezvous to just six hours". Hoshide who flew to the station after two days catching up in his Soyuz, marvels at the speed at which crews can now fly to the ISS- "You launch in the morning and then that afternoon you're already on the station".

Vinogradov, Misurkin and Cassidy are scheduled to return to Earth in September.

Celebrating Patrick's Day from 250 Miles Above Earth

It's good to see our national holiday celebrated all over the world. Whether you are celebrating the occasion in Ireland like myself, wearing green in Beijing, dying your river green in Chicago- wherever! It's always nice to see the world going green for a day!

"Wearing the green - Happy St. Patrick's Day from the International Space Station!"

However, it now seems that Paddy's Day is now being celebrated both on and off this planet!

Every year we see things like the Empire State Building, The London Eye and the White House fountain going green for Ireland. The International Space Station is no different!

Expedition 35 commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency, and fellow astronaut Tom Marshburn have been taking to social media sites like Google+ and Twitter to share the view of our Emerald Isle from 250 miles above in Low-Earth Orbit.

Always nice to see home from space!!

Since their launch a in December, Hadfield and Marshburn have had their cameras pointed at Earth, tweeting photos of places like Mt Vesuvius, the Scottish Highlands, and now the lenses have focused in on us. One of the main reasons I was looking forward to our national holiday was because I knew the guys on the space station would more than likely snap a few photos of our island(something they had been doing in the days leading up to March 17th). Then the moment came when Hadfield tweeted:

"Maidin mhaith from the International Space Station! Happy Saint Patrick's Day to the Irish all around the globe. Good morning!"

This was followed by Hadfield showing the Irish within him as he broke out his green geansaí, complemented by a dickiebow. Then the photos came!

"Tralee, Ireland, nestled in the first green we see after soaring across the Atlantic"

First up from the station's windows was a glimpse of Tralee from the heavens above! His crew mate Marshburn of NASA, who had been snapping away at Ireland for the last few days also tweeted a snow covered Waterford.

To mark the occasion further, Hadfield, a man also noted for his music skills, recorded his version of Danny Boy- "Danny Boy strikes home with me, now more than ever. I've recorded a version for today in orbit. Hope you like it!" You can hear the commander's version of the song here: https://soundcloud.com/colchrishadfield/danny-boy.

"St. Patrick's Day Finale: Dublin, with her port standing out clearly to photographers in Earth orbit"

Hadfield finished up the day and decided to call it a day when he tweeted this picture of Dublin- the clouds must have gotten the better of him!


You can see all of Chris and Tom's photos of Ireland, and of course other photos of spaceship Earth by following them on Twitter: @Cmdr_Hadfield and @AstroMarshburn

Happy St Patrick's Day! All photos credit to Chris Hadfield, Tom Marshburn, NASA