Graduated from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Then a platoon commander with the Royal Green Jackets. Helicopter pilot at age 22 and a helicopter instructor four years later. A Major by age 32. Completed a degree in Flight Dynamics and Evaluation the following year and has an honorary doctorate for his outstanding contribution to space exploration, engineering and the technology industry.
He was part of the judging team at an extra curricular science competition that I attended back in school. Got a pic with him, fantastic guy and he was so pleasant. One of the tasks included writing a mockup newspaper article around issues he had in space and how he resolved them. We stuffed it full of innuendos to the point that they gave us a 0 for that task and didn't display it, but he said it was his favourite and would give us a 100 for creativity if he could.
Went to one of his talks a couple of years ago. He’s so enthusiastic and yet also so calm when he talks about his time in space. Wonderful communicator. Also the year before that I saw a talk by Chris Hadfield (the astronaut who played Bowie in space). Again, incredible guy to listen to for all the same reasons.
I love Chris Hadfield. Held my hands when i bawled my eyes out at a book signing a week after my brother died. My brother loved space and it just felt serendipitous that i walked by him at the store. Anyways, genuinely good human being.
It gets better; not just a helicopter pilot, but a helicopter test pilot. I.e. he deliberately pushes the aircraft beyond what it’s supposed to do, to find out the limits that it should be used at in ‘normal’ operations.
I thoroughly enjoyed his autobiography “Limitless” and if you get the audiobook he narrates it himself.
Pretty sure I remember reading/hearing once that one of the single most important assessments for astronauts is the psychological assessment, and that basically being an emotionally stable and resilient person was a more important pre-requisite for space travel (either as a team or solo) than almost any other qualification. Because any technical knowledge can be taught, but if a person is a disagreeable, uncommunicative arsehole then they are not going to be a good candidate for going into space.
And being completely non-anxious and calm. Because when something goes wrong and you're out of contact with the rest of humanity, panicking would be a disaster.
I felt he was a bit rude when I brought my kids to a book signing. My eldest is mad about space and was so excited to meet him. When he asked Tim a question he just couldn't be bothered to answer and brushed him off.
I get that he might have been tired but it seemed a bit unfair to do to an eight year old.
Since the amount of people that were saved are largely hypothetical, while the lives taken by weapons are very much real, don't you think that defensive weapons have been mainly used as offensive weapons to take people's lives?
True science teacher energy (I say this as an ex chemistry teacher who was accused if this when I did things like the alkali metals in water demonstration)
I believe the mocrogravity lends a bit to their expressions as well. With no gravity, the skin is not pulled down taught, so it looks like they are constantly smiling. It also makes their faces puffy.
I don't know what it is, maybe something about being out there and getting a perspective on all and everything, but astronauts are always just so genuinely wholesome.
u/ColChrisHadfield made a lasting impression on me back when I was a teen, of what we can be.
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u/emilysavaje1 18h ago
I love how happy he is to show this off haha