Mount Royal University welcomed Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield to Ross Glen Hall on Tuesday afternoon for a talk on leadership and sustainability.
Hundreds of people packed the hall, excited to hear Hadfield speak.
Hadfield, whose varied career includes test pilot, fighter pilot, astronaut, and businessman, wove these experiences and perspectives into a talk on environmental leadership.
“I learned just how tough, ancient, and beautiful Earth was,” said Hadfield when reflecting on seeing Earth from space.
Sustainability and space
Despite growing worldwide concerns about sustainability, Hadfield emphasizes that our planet is built on resilience, and that sustainability is a community effort we all need to be part of.
“The world’s not going anywhere. We couldn’t kill all the life on Earth if we made that our number one objective. Life isn’t going anywhere. Our real job is to try and improve the quality of life for as many people as possible in a sustainable way. That’s our job,” said Hadfield.
The Moon and beyond
In the discussion after his talk, Hadfield emphasized that living on the Moon isn’t a distant possibility, but rather a very likely transition of life due to the recent discovery of ice within the Moon’s craters, which is evidence of water on the Moon. Sustainability practices don’t just involve Earth, but also the celestial bodies within our solar system.
Hadfield is passionate about sustainability, even with King Charles on the Astra Carta, a roadmap for sustainable practices in space-related industries, with the key goal of keeping sustainability at the center of all space activity to protect Earth and the space around it.
Hadfield remains confident that life on Earth won’t end.
“Going around the world as many times as I have makes you eternally realistic and optimistic. The world’s not going anywhere,” said Hadfield.
Students welcome message
“It’s really cool. It’s not every day you get to meet the most iconic Canadian astronaut,” said Isaac Campbell, 20, a Mount Royal University student.
“If you talk to people from different places or you go to different places, geography plays a huge role in the way you see things and the way that you choose to operate in your world,” said Jess Zhang, 24, a student at Mount Royal University. “So, talking to someone who’s been in a completely different perspective, I feel like that’ll just kind of shift the mindset,” said Zhang.
