Forget Dave Bowman. Real-life space commander Chris Hadfield has harnessed the power of social media during his stint as the commander of the International Space Station to help make being an astronaut cool again, regularly dropping knowledge bombs and breathtaking in-orbit photos on his YouTube and Twitter feeds.
Between Hadfield and frequent updates from the Mars-hopping Curiosity rover, space has never felt so close. But even good things have to end; today, Commander Hadfield is scheduled to return to Earth after his stellar five-month stint in the sky.
How did Hadfield decide to wrap up his tremendous run? Not with a bang, but with a melancholy strumming. Last night, Hadfield shared his final opus with his 821,000-plus Twitter followers: An out-of-this-world cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.”
One bonus side effect from Hadfield’s musical adieu: An acoustic cover from Bowie’s “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” is now pretty much a must-have when plans to reach the red planet (hopefully) come to fruition in 2023.
Until that day, though, we’ll have to make due with Hadfield’s sultry tones—and his video ‘splainers on how to wring out washcloths and whip up a peanut butter sandwich in space.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, that’s a Larrivée Parlour guitar Hadfield’s strumming so soulfully.