Chris Hadfield’s Fictional Universe Is Rooted in Real Space History

克里斯·哈德菲尔德的虚构宇宙根植于真实太空历史。

Science Quickly

2025-10-08

10 分钟
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What happens when a real-life astronaut turns to fiction? In this episode, Chris Hadfield shares how decades of spaceflight and global diplomacy inspired his latest novel, Final Orbit, a cold war thriller packed with historical intrigue and technical precision. Host Rachel Feltman dives into Hadfield’s creative process and the eerie parallels between past and present geopolitics. Recommended Reading Final Orbit, by Chris Hadfield. Mulholland Books, 2025 Science Quickly is a Signal Awards finalist! Support us by casting your vote before October 9 at the following link: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting?utm_campaign=signal4_finalists_finalistnotification_092325&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cio#/2025/shows/genre/science E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura and Kylie Murphy. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check the show. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  • For Scientific American Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feldman.

  • You might know Chris Hadfield as the International Space Station Commander who famously sang David Bowie's Space Oddity

  • while orbiting Earth.

  • But in recent years, he's added fiction writer to his list of jobs,

  • publishing thrillers based on the real history of the space race.

  • His latest book, Final Orbit,

  • is set in 1975 and features historical figures navigating geopolitical tensions that may sound surprisingly familiar to anyone following current events.

  • Here to talk about how his experience as an astronaut informs his fiction writing is Colonel Chris Hadfield,

  • former commander of the International Space Station.

  • Thanks so much for coming on to chat with us today.

  • My pleasure.

  • Most folks know you from your time.

  • in the ISS.

  • Could you catch people up on what you've been doing since then?

  • Yeah, I served as an astronaut for 21 years and flew in space three times,

  • commanded a spaceship, did some spacewalks.

  • But all good things must come to an end.

  • And I retired from 35 years of government service.

  • Since then, I've written six books.

  • I helped lead several space companies and other tech companies.