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Hadfield releases out of this world first book

The former space commander, who was the first Canadian to command the
International Space Station, will release his first book "An Astronaut's
Guide to Life on Earth" on Oct. 29.

Published by Random House Canada, the book gives readers an inside look
into his years of space exploration, including the five months he spent
on the ISS.

"It was a very busy time," Hadfield told CTV's Canada AM on Friday. The
54-year-old, who retired from the Canadian Space Agency this summer,
said he worked seven days a week for the

entire duration of the mission,
waking up at 6 a.m. every morning and working until 1 a.m.

"But I figured I wasn't going to be in space for the rest of my life,
let's make something of it. Let's really keep busy and fill every
unforgiving minute."

While on board the ISS, Hadfield performed more than 130 science
experiments. He also gained fans around the world thanks to his prolific
Twitter stream of videos, songs and pictures depicting his life in
orbit.

"I’m no wonderful photographer…but I (was) in a place where the world
was basically showing me secrets," Hadfield said. "It was like lifting
up the corner of a tent and saying look what I'm showing you now."

After returning to Earth in May, the Ontario native underwent weeks of
post-mission checkups and medical tests in Texas. Hadfield, who will be
joining the University of Waterloo's faculty as a professor of aviation
next fall, said he is now "mostly normal."

He said it took approximately four months for him to be able to run properly.

"The pounding of my legs, pushing the blood down to my feet, my body just couldn't get it back up to my heart, lungs and head."

Hadfield said he lost approximately eight per cent of the bone across
his hip and that it's still in the process of growing back.

"What's amazing is that the osteoporosis reverses," said Hadfield,
adding that he hopes that by the time a year has passed, all the bones
in his body will have grown back.

Hadfield's book, the first of a two-book agreement, also features
photos taken while he was on board the Russian Soyuz rocket, which was
used to bring him and two other astronauts safely back down to Earth.

The picture in the book shows Hadfield sitting in a cramped space along
with Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and NASA astronaut Tom
Marshburn.

"You have all of your survival gear in there in case the Soyuz lands in
the ocean, the desert, the Arctic, anywhere in the world, it's all in
that little capsule."