Astronaut Chris Hadfield touches down at Ryerson engineering conference

Three space flights. First Canadian Commander of the International Space Station (ISS). RCAF fighter pilot. Colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces. Chief of Robotics at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Mechanical engineer. The list goes on. For all, Chris Hadfield is a Canadian space hero. He’s also a cultural icon. With almost 2.5 million Twitter followers, Forbes calls him the most social media savvy astronaut to leave Earth. His version of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” – performed and recorded on the ISS – has 24 million views on YouTube.

The Ryerson community was treated to a live version of Bowie’s song and much more at “Beyond the Horizon: The Hadfield Experience,” an event hosted by the George Vari Innovation Conference (GVIC) and produced by FEAS in collaboration with the Ryerson Engineering Student Society (external link)  and the Ryerson Leadership Lab (external link) . Hadfield shared his life journey, from his childhood in Ontario to becoming the first Canadian to walk in space. As reported by The Eyeopener (external link) , he explained that “early success is a terrible teacher” and “early failure is what you want.” He also encouraged everyone in attendance to become changemakers in society. Audience members were visibly moved by the presentation, with one student commenting that Hadfield “allowed me to understand that the ambitious goals I look to achieve are possible so long as I believe them to be.”