Astronaut Chris Hadfield’s first book lands in October

If astronaut Chris Hadfield can write as well as he can sing a David Bowie song, his upcoming book is going to be good.

Hadfield has signed with Little, Brown to publish “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth.” The book lands Oct. 29.

During the five months Hadfield was commander of the International Space Station, he used social media to share his experiences, posting breathtaking photos and sharing videos. His personalized version of David Bowie’s song “Space Oddity,” which was posted online in May shortly before he returned to Earth, has been viewed more than 16 million times.

In “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth,” Little, Brown writes, Hadfield “takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of real achievement—and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: Don’t visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff.”

Hadfield is a Canadian who was the top graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and later U.S. Navy test pilot of the year. He was CAPCOM for 25 shuttle launches and served as director of NASA operations in Star City, Russia, from 2001–2003; chief of robotics at the Johnson Space Center in Houston from 2003–2006; and chief of International Space Station operations from 2006–2008. From December to May he was commander of the International Space Station; he retired in June after more than 30 years of service and three trips to space.

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