COMMANDER Chris Hadfield, the astronaut who garnered a global following during his time on board the International Space Station (ISS), is set to touch down in Scotland later today.
The 55-year-old Canadian shot 45,000 photographs during his final mission in space, including many of Scotland from which his grandmother's side of the family originally hails. A selection of the images feature in his recently published book You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes.
He also famously used his free time on board the floating laboratory to record a poignant cover version of David Bowie's Space Oddity in orbit which to date boasts 25 million viewings on YouTube.
Commander Hadfield, who retired last year, will be in Edinburgh and Glasgow today as part of a book tour and series of talks about his life among the stars.
Commander Hadfield, who has flown in space three times and completed his last mission in May 2013, has been a regular visitor to Scotland over the years. "My wife and I had a Scottish exchange student from Lundin Links, Fife, come stay with us in Toronto so we have that tie," he said. "He got married in St Andrews so we've been back and forth. I've toured around the country with my daughter, done all the tourist stuff and also worked with the Scottish Space School."
He is equally proud of his own Scottish roots. "My family on my grandmother's side is from the Scottish borders," he said. "They left in 1825 and sailed across to Montreal before settling in southern Ontario. The first place I ever landed in Scotland was Prestwick in 1977. I toured Europe for six months as a teenager and flew from Toronto to Prestwick. I went up to Glasgow, Oban and Loch Ness then down the east coast.
"I never thought back then I would land a spaceship in Kazakhstan, get on plane and it would stop in Prestwick to re-fuel on the way home. The first shower I had in five months was at Prestwick."
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