So why is Pluto not a planet anymore? You can download here a copy of my reply which was kindly edited (slashed 
) by Duncan to fit the 150 words requested by the newspaper format.
Commander Hadfield is my personal hero and currently my favourite science communicator! I am so impressed about how he brought space back on Earth and made ISS very real, through his tweets, facebook posts, the pictures he took from space and the movies he made and all the rest. And then he shared them with us all.
But what Commander Hadfield shared every time was a tiny piece of himself. His thoughts and feelings and that made everything very personal and I could relate to it. Thanks to social media.
"My advice: turn yourself into what you want to become step by step as a demonstration of personal will."
Cmdr. Hadfield after his return to Earth
May 2013
Choice quotes from Col. Chris Hadfield during his news conference (paraphrased):
"On the ISS, when you have 30 seconds free, you go do something else!"
"It's a whole new normal, my body was perfectly happy living in space... My body is catching up with the change."
"We're learning about the fundamental nature of matter because the ISS exists."
"People followed me because there is poetry and purpose in what is happening on the ISS."
"I'm not a person who looks back and wishes that my past was my present."
"In the gym yesterday, it felt like someone was squeezing me down into the floor, felt like it was so unfair!"
"Zero gravity is like a superpower!"
"We're also inspiring our youth to do something that barely seems possible."
On his landing: "We could smell spring, the charred spacecraft, growing grass wafting through the open door."
"The number of people following is a measure of the number of people who shared the experience."
Social media is ... very human. It links you with your friends or people you know from work or somewhere else. The key word here is "network". For me, it's a great way of keeping an eye on what my friends are doing. How many times have you been on Facebook or Twitter reading your friends posts on science and scientific events? I confess... all the time. I get most of my space news from FB, Twitter, G+, YouTube or Linkedin and the rest from my Google alerts. For the past years, every time there was a major event four or five of my friends (or my mother) would email me with details of the event sometimes before I even knew that something was happening. Yes!! Isn't that awesome? And this is the power of social media. It makes things very personal. And you can share them quick with the people who matter for you. So please make sure that you do tell me also how you feel about these amazing events every time when you send me news! I would love to hear about that too!
Commander Hadfield just returned to Earth on the 15th of May. Before that, he handed over the command of the ISS to the next commander.
Thats what you do. I know I did the same thing at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS). And although MDRS is on Utah and will stay here on Earth as an analog to a Mars Station, I could totally relate to Commander Hadfield's comment saying that the ISS is a human research vessel. It is exactly what I felt about MDRS! And I definitely related to and admired his outreach efforts, just as our KiwiMars expeditions was focused on outreach and communication, on making space-related research accesible to those who wants to know more about it.
Live Long and Prosper Commander Hadfield and thank you for all the inspiration!
Commander Mogosanu of KiwiMars
P.S. - If you have not done it yet, watch here the "revised version of David Bowie's Space Oddity, recorded by Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station"!
More links
The official blog of the Canadian Space Agency
Canadian Space Agency on Facebook
Chris Hadfield on Facebook
From http://www.phys.canterbury.ac.nz/starlightfestival/
Students in Years 5–8 and 9–13 are invited to submit an essay of not more than 600 words or a poem of no more than 40 lines by 12 August 2013.
Students are invited to choose one of these themes:
- I am inspired by stars in the night sky;
- What can we do about light pollution?;
- Darkness.
Prose or poetry can be imaginary, historical or scientifically based.
Judges will be looking for knowledge of the southern stars and either good research or imaginative use of astronomy.
Clearly expressed, grammatically correct English is expected.
The 10 best entries will win an exciting all-expenses-paid weekend at Tekapo, a kitset Galileoscope and a visit to the University Observatory at Mt John along with a Certificate presented by veteran NASA astronaut Marsha Ivins, who will be at the festival as a special guest.
For further information and how to enter please refer to the attached document and go to www.starlightfestival.org.nz.
The competition is part of the Aoraki Mackenzie Starlight Festival, organised by the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky reserve Board in partnership with the University of Canterbury.
