I totally wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid.
Sure, I was only a wee baby when man first landed on the moon in 1969 - and when they say "wee," does that refer to size of the baby or lack of bladder control? Anyways, I'd definitely be on both lists for July 20, 1969 - but that moment echoed through the next couple decades as children everywhere dreamed of exploring space and the cool possibilities.
It helped that the popular entertainment at the time - like Star Trek and Star Wars - kept those aspirations alive, as we filled our heads with visions of warp speeds, teleportation, lasers and cavorting with green-skinned alien women of dubious morals. Hey, I'd have hit puberty by about this time, so give me a break.
Something happened after that, though.
Maybe it was all the government budget cuts to NASA that gutted its space programs over the years. Maybe it was the big budget special-effects Hollywood blockbusters that made real space stuff seem so... meh by comparison, or maybe we all just grew up and got regular jobs.
But for whatever reason, we stopped looking at the stars and dreaming.
Well, to be honest, I never got out of that phase and still dream of outer space... and also play video games, read comic books - 'er "graphic novels" - watch old Star Trek episodes and wonder about green-skinned aliens. But I'm saying that collectively, we sort of turned our attention away from space exploration at some point.
And by "we," I mean everyone else, of course.
But I'm pretty sure my kids will grow up with that sense of wonder for space - and I also suspect many of us oldtimers have had that fire reignited - thanks to Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.
Not since the 1969 moon landing has something going on in space provided such inspiration and diversion for us mere terrestrial-bound folk.
Sure, since the moon landing there've been tons of rockets, satellites and astronauts galore blasted into the inky blackness, where no one can hear you scream, but Hadfield is the first to really capture the imagination of the world.
Also, doesn't it sound a little off-putting that space is where no one can hear you scream? That's pretty negative for space tourism. Maybe if they said, "Space, where nobody can hear a Nickelback song"... it'd be more positive.
Anyway, Hadfield's time at the International Space Station (ISS) became the subject of supper and office talk, thanks to the Canuck astronaut's use of social media and the Internet. Hadfield tweeted about his life on the ISS, answered questions from ordinary schmoes and posted numerous YouTube videos detailing important space stuff like how to brush your teeth in zero gravity. His rendition of David Bowie's Space Oddity, complete with the real blue planet Earth spinning behind him, got international media attention for days and became one of the site's most watched videos. Most amazing, while in space Hadfield, thanks to a NASA uplink, united thousands of British Columbia schoolchildren - my daughter included - in singing a song he wrote. It was really inspirational for everyone. Parents cried... teachers, too.
He not only made space something to dream about again... he also made Canadians look pretty charming and cool.
Hopefully, Hadfield has inspired a whole new generation, and perhaps even future generations, to put a focus on exploring the great unknowns of space, meeting those challenges and going where no man has gone before.
Who knows? Maybe there's still a chance I'll meet that green-skinned alien in my lifetime.
