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An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth

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An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth

By: Chris Hadfield
Narrated by: Chris Hadfield
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About this listen

This audiobook is fascinatingly read by the author, Chris Hadfield.

Back on the earth after three spaceflights, Chris Hadfield's captivating memoir
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth reveals extraordinary stories from his life as an astronaut, and shows how to make the impossible a reality.

Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4,000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, and been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft. The secret to Col. Hadfield's success – and survival – is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst – and enjoy every moment of it.

In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes listeners deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement – and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff.

You might never be able to build a robot, pilot a spacecraft, make a music video or perform basic surgery in zero gravity like Col. Hadfield. But his vivid and refreshing insights will teach you how to think like an astronaut, and will change, completely, the way you view life on Earth – especially your own.

©2013 Chris Hadfield (P)2013 Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd
Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Aeronautics & Astronautics Astronomy & Space Science Professionals & Academics Science Science & Technology Inspiring Interstellar Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Aviation Technology

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Editor reviews

Deeply moving in its ability to engage, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth is written by NASA Astronaut and YouTube star Colonel Chris Hadfield with the complete and unabridged audiobook narrated by the author. Hadfield’s writing is exquisite, his stories exceedingly entertaining and wisdom unbounded. His lifelong determination to make his dreams come true is tremendously inspiring. This is one of those books that makes you look internally at yourself and your life and question if you’re living it the way you should. Available now from Audible.
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This book is more about the preparation for his mission to the ISS than a standard autobiography with many chapters about his life and upbringing, which I'm grateful for.

This is a very enjoyable listen for anyone interested in the space program and that side of science and engineering in general and I really appreciated the detail that Hadfield puts into this side of things in the book. I was interested in what astronauts do in the traning and prep time before their missions. I also appreciated the writing about the impact his choice of career had on his family, it's covered in a powerful and reflective, but never sappy way.

Hadfield is not the best narrator, but to be honest, this is to be expected, I'm pretty sure he makes a far better astronaut, so yes there are better narrations on the site, but I still thoroughly enjoyed listening to him read his book.

More memoir than diary.

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I first learned about Chris Hadfield on Twitter at some point but a few weeks ago he was a guest on The Joe Rogan podcast and what he said and how he said it really interested me. I bought the book straight away and it was a very enjoyable listening experience.

In particular and one of the reasons I bought the book was to hear him describe the impact on human beings in space. This is truly fascinating and really makes you realise how small our world is in comparison to the universe. The view from the space station as another thing that I enjoyed hearing described and I think at one point he refers to seeing 16 sunsets across the globe each day from his vantage point.

Recommended!

Puts our world into perspective

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I loved it and I hope one day I would be able to implement the knowledge provided to my future career potentially as an astronaut.

Knowledgeable

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What an inspiring life and man! I couldn’t stop listening and only wish it was longer.

Truly Amazing!

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Fantastic insights, told humbly and clearly by a well reflected astronaut. A treasure of a book.

Outstanding

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What an outstanding book and a great listen, with fantastic narration. You really go with Chris on a journey through his own adventures. A very insightful man with many interesting views on life. I now have an added interest in space - I owe this also to Chris! Would recommend to anyone!

Phenomenal.

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Amazing to hear about life as an astronaut but also clever how he relates it to our life's and the little things that matter.

Really enjoyed it great read

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Goosebumps all through the book, amazing! I think every person with such an amazing life experience should write such a book.

dream job

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Everything
It gave me a new insight into how I conduct myself while having respect for self and planet

inspiring

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I love this book. it's not just an autobiography, it's thought provoking in many ways and the core ideas can resonate in most people's life. Being prepared for the worst, always training, always being challenged, the competitiveness of overachievers thrown at the bottom of the stairs. Chris' voice is also very easy listen to listen to, relaxing but not boring. perfect.

fantastic

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