hadfield-ISS-space-oddity

Chances are, you've sung into a mirror gripping a hairbrush or lost yourself in your own air guitar virtuosity at some point. And why not? It's easy to let the creativity flow in the comfort of your own house. And, it seems, that's true no matter where we call home.

For Chris Hadfield, that would be the International Space Station, where he has lived and worked for the last five months. The Canadian astronaut and ISS Commander has been something of a social media celebrity lately, thanks to a regular flow of tweets, photos and videos from space. And now, thanks to this newest vid that went out over the weekend, that fanbase probably just got a lot stronger.

Hadfield returned to terra firma on Monday, but before he commenced the return trip, he had to squeeze in one last hurrah — his own rendition of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" performed on the ISS. But the astronaut is no poser; he's actually singing and playing the guitar in this music video, all while floating around weightlessly. (And is it just me, or is he actually a good singer? I guess zero gravity doesn't mess with the vocal cords.)

Considering some of the disconcerting reports about coolant leaks that went on at the space station last week, it's good to see something positive come out of there. Seems we're not the only ones who feel this way: In the first day the video was live on YouTube, it snagged nearly 3 million views. Another reason for the massive viewership numbers may be the original "Major Tom" himself. When Bowie got wind of the vid, he couldn't resist turning his fans on to it. 

We here on Earth tend to think of astronauts as cool-headed space cowboys with steely nerves and a no-nonsense personality, so it's amazing to see such a moving and human side. But it's all par for the course for Hadfield. After all, this is the same guy who held a (very) long distance singalong with Canadian schoolkids from space.