How can one live in Milton and not read this book? He has made us all proud. He is a little older than me, just enough so our paths would not have crossed at high school. But we would have had many of the same teachers. In fact, his favourite math teacher was my favourite math teacher at high school. However, that is where the comparison between me and him has to end.
He had a goal established for himself at the age of 9, and in making many of his life choices, he always asked himself if his decision would get him closer to being an astronaut. I was never that goal driven, because I never knew, and I still don't know, what I want to be when I grow up.
I remember very vividly when they first started looking for Canadian astronauts, and they advertised in every high school across Canada. They had a guest speaker come to my school and tell us what they were looking for in an astronaut. Ironically, I got to see this presentation at his alma mater and he didn't.
The book was fascinating. I pretty much finished it in one day. I never knew how complicated being an astronaut was. I watched the movie "Gravity" recently. In it, they prepare for a space walk in just a couple of minutes. In the book, he describes it as a minimum two day ordeal getting the equipment ready, and then practicing what they are going to do, while figuring out everything that might go wrong and coming up with a contingency plan for it.
If you watched any of the videos sent by Hadfield to earth during his stint on the ISS, you have to read this book to see the context in which they were created. A thoroughly enjoyable read.
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