Living two miles from Books and Books, we can saunter over regularly to be in the presence of greatness. Last month it was author Thomas McGuane and last night, astronaut Chris Hadfield. The video of him singing "Space Oddity", inside the International Space Station, just got its 25 millionth hit. The guy is a rock star.
And we got to be in the same room with him last night. This morning he's waking up in New York City for his appearance on The Today Show. Col. Chris is pushing his new bestseller, "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth".
Col. Hadfield first explained, in ten-minute detail, what it is like to ride a rocket into space. I learned that the latest Jaguar has 526 horsepower while his rocket had 80 million. It burned 12 tons of fuel a second to boost the space shuttle into orbit.
It's a great read and if you hustle over to B&B soon you can get an autographed copy for $17 (paperback).
When a young man name Juan asked "How can I become an astronaut", he learned that he has to be healthy, get an advanced technical degree and do things like learn to fly or scuba dive.
Heck, all I need is the degree (law won't do) and I'll be ready to blast off.
He then summed up his years of training and space exploration and how it possible to do almost anything we set our minds too...even to become a successful musician.
We learned the space explorer loves music and has fronted bands for 25 years. In his last 5-month stint aboard the space station, he didn't just have his fellow astronauts shoot videos of him singing one song, but many.
Amazing. Read the book.
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