Chris Hadfield Biography and Profile - Colonel Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian astronaut to live aboard the International Space Station, was born on August 29, 1959, in Milton, Ontario. Raised on a farm, Hadfield developed an early taste for adventure, and by his teens, he was already an accomplished skier.
Chris Hadfield Profile - But flying was Hadfield's true passion. At the age of 15, the young Air Cadet won a glider pilot scholarship. He dreamed even then of becoming an astronaut, but his native Canada offered no astronaut program to pursue.
Chris Hadfield Biography - Instead, Hadfield joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1978, spending two years at Royal Roads Military College in Victoria, British Columbia. He followed that up with two more years at Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1982.
Through it all, Hadfield's passion for flying never left him. Throughout much of the 1980s, he trained and worked as a fighter pilot for both Canadian and American forces. This period included training at the United States Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California, as well as performing research work with NASA.
Chris Hadfield Biography Profile:
Born August 29, 1959, in Sarnia, and raised in Milton, Ontario. Colonel Chris Hadfield is married to Helene Hadfield (née Walter). They have three children. He enjoys skiing, playing guitar, singing, riding, writing, running, and playing volleyball and squash. His parents, Roger and Eleanor Hadfield, reside near Milton. Her mother, Gwendoline Walter, resides in Victoria, B.C. Her father, Erhard Walter, is deceased.
Chris Hadfield Education:
Graduated as an Ontario Scholar from Milton District High School in 1977; Received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering (with honours), Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, in 1982; Conducted post-graduate research at the University of Waterloo, Ontario in 1982; Received a Master of Science in aviation systems at the University of Tennessee in 1992.
