Science is amazing. The best thing is that when you describe something awesome about science you never need to use colourful language. Like this week for example, I got to email Commander Chris Hadfield about being on board the International Space Station. I emailed a guy about living in space. While he’s in space! Earlier this month we were treated to a couple of spectacular shots of Calgary, courtesy of Cmdr. Hadfield, in orbit aboard the ISS.

Since arriving in December, Cmdr. Hadfield has been tweeting updates about his mission, as well as some truly beautiful shots of our planet. The commanders time on the station is very limited as he’s busy installing new equipment and running experiments but I was lucky enough to get one of the three questions I sent him answered.

What do you hope the people following you take away from your Tweets from space?

I think it’s really good that so many people become more aware of their Earth as one place, see it through my eyes, get a sense of the perspective. Social media is a marvellous new way to give real-time insight into the amazing things that are happening, and the thoughts and emotions they engender. As a child I was inspired by TV image of humanity’s first steps on the Moon. Today, hopefully, social media can similarly inspire young Canadians to pursue a life of education and science that is both personally thrilling and useful for us all.

Hadfield will become the official commander of the ISS in March. I highly recommend you follow him on Twitter for great updates and pictures like these.

Commander Chris Hadfield.

A shot of Calgary in early January.

Vancouver

Toronto at night.

All photos courtesy of @Cmdr_Hadfield. You can also learn more about his work on the ISS by watching this interview he did this week with the Governor General of Canada, David Johnson and some schoolchildren.