Hadfield tries his hand at space plumbing
It’s not all fame and glory for astronaut
OTTAWA — Chris Hadfield has a new space video — this time of his left wrist, with the metal band of his watch floating eerily around it like a snake in zero-gravity.
The Canadian astronaut says it’s “one of the first things that struck me when I got to orbit.”
But space travel isn’t all fame and glory.
Hadfield’s entry Wednesday morning on Twitter read: “Good Morning Earth! This morning I’m refurbishing the Urine collection hydraulics, all hoses and valves. Space Plumber, on a house call.”
Meanwhile, Hadfield will be one of the first humans to ride in a private, commercial spaceship. At least, his blood will.
His blood samples, taken on the International Space Station as part of NASA’s extensive health studies, will return to Earth on the Dragon, owned and operated by the SpaceX company of California. SpaceX made its first successful trip to and from the space station with an unmanned cargo vessel in October.
It shows how space exploration is becoming more a shared venture, less an exclusive club, with Russians taking the astronauts up and down, a California company hauling cargo and companies from Canada and other countries manufacturing much of the space hardware.
Hadfield will take over command of the International Space Station in March.