May 18, 2025 • 8 mins
Retired astronaut Chris Hadfield join Jonesy & Amanda for an extraordinary chat!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
My Heart podcasts here, more Gold one on one point
seven podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Playlists and listen live on the Free iHeart app You.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Jazy and Amanda jam Nation. Our next guest is Colonel
Chris Hadfield, acclaimed astronaut test pilot, space Walker, spaceship commander.
He's done so much and he charmed the world when
he's sang this song in space is.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Crowd control to me. Time You've really made the g.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Love it well. Chris is heading back to Australia and
we're thrilled to have him with us.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Now. Hello, Chris, how are you Hello? I'm doing great,
Thank you and thanks for playing that song and it's
nice to be chatting with you both.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Do you get some sort of royalty out of that?
I suppose it goes to David Bowie's estate. Did you
get a performer a bit of a performer.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Slice in truth that song? David Bowie last control of
it legally, and so the money goes to a law firm. Actually,
and I don't get a royalty, but you know that's
just how it goes, even for as successful and vollume
a musicians.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
As long as a lawyer is getting the money. Christ
that's good.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
So much to talk about at the moment. In terms
of space, let's talk about well, the most obvious one,
Katie Perry, Gal King, etcetera heading into space and being
called astronauts. Was it fair that the world reacted strangely
to that and thought that doesn't feel right? Was it fair?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
I don't know who it's fair too. It doesn't really
worry me at all. I mean, when when the Wright
brothers saw the very first airliners starting to fly and
taking wealthy passengers for rides, I don't think they were
bad about it or chagrined. They could easily see the
difference between a pilot and a passenger, and they're both.
(02:02):
What's the they're both air travelers, they're both maybe even aviators.
When you fly on quantus, are you an ava? Sorta?
So if you fly on board a spaceship as a passenger,
are you an astronaut? Yeah? Sort of. I mean it's
just a word. I'm not too worried about it. But
it was just kind of fun to watch, and they
sure made the most of the moment and it was just,
(02:23):
you know, a flash in the pan entertainment. Meanwhile, friends
of mine are living and working on the space station,
and two women did a long, arduous spacewalk nut for
a couple of weeks ago, and the most experienced astronaut
in American history is a woman. So I'm not too
worried about some folks posing and going for a ride.
It's just kind of entertaining.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
And you spend a bit of time and space when
you came back. What sort of adverse effects? What did
you feel when you came back to Earth's gravity.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
It's proportionate to how long you spent. They only spent
about three minutes up there, and so virtually no adverse
effects at all. Maybe a little nausea. But I spent
six months, and there's a huge readaptation of the body.
You lose muscle, fiber, your your balance system shuts down,
your heart shrinks, you lose bone, you get osteoporosis. I
(03:17):
lost about eight percent of the bone and my hip
cradle and my upper femur, and it took a significant
amount of time for each of those things to readapt
to Earth when I got back. The longest one was
my skeleton, and that's about three to one. So if
you spend six months in space, it took about eighteen
months to get my moone density back up. So, but
(03:38):
it was worth every second of it.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
It sounds well Sunni and Butch spent nine months up there.
They didn't expect to be in the space station for
that long psychologically, did you? How would that have been
for them to hear your journey is being extended. That's
a head game, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Yeah, But they were completely ready for it. And I
think the worst head game would have been if they
had taken the enormous risk of flying a brand new
rocket that no human being had ever flown before, and
then a spaceship built by Bowing that no human being
had ever flown before, the risk of that was huge.
(04:14):
And so to fly all the way up and successfully
dock with the space station and only stay for a
week and then come back, what a travesty of trade
off of risk. The best thing that could have happened
for them did, which was, Hey, we're not just going
to bring you home after just a week. You get
to stay. You get to actually live and work in space,
(04:35):
which is what astronauts trained for and dream of, you know,
it's what we do for a living. And so it
was the greatest reward for them both and they were
super productive. They made the space station more productive. Sonny
was the commander of the space station. They did space
walks together, and both of them have said that they
hoped to get a chance to fly at space again.
So they were never stranded, There was never a second
(04:58):
up there. They didn't have a vehicle to come home in.
There was all sorts of political and uninformed posturing about it,
but they had the time of their lives. And I've
spoken with Sonny rec and they're really hoping to have
a chance to fly in space again. So it's what
astronauts do for a living, and it's just kind of
funny sometimes to see how it gets misrepresented by folks
(05:19):
who are on the periphery of it.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
There's a lot of cynicism around the billionaires who are
funding these flights at the moment. But is that the
only way we'll be able to explore space now NASA
can't afford it on its own. Is it right that
we hitch rides with the billionaires.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Well, cynicism is the easiest of all positions to take
because it allows you to do no work and express
an opinion. So it's fine be a cynic but actually
try and go to space. That's hard, and that takes
a lifetime of work. So I listened far more to
people who are doing things than people who are sitting
in the comfort of their chair at home and being cynical.
(05:58):
You used to have to be a trillionaire to fly
in space because the technology was so bad and so early.
You had to be the United States or the Soviet Union.
No one else could pass afford it. But because so
many astronauts were willing to take risks and a bunch
of them died, we now have invented and improved the
(06:18):
technology so good that now a private citizen can fly
in space for the cost of a luxury car. And
there's still a lot of money, you know, a true
luxury car is a lot of money. But look around
Sydney or Melbourne or whatever. There's a lot of luxury
cars driving around, you know. So that's pretty incredible. And
(06:39):
the fact that wealthy people run huge companies is nothing new.
It's really complicated to fly in space. And Jeff Bezos
form Blue Origin in nineteen ninety seven, I think, and
he's only put one rocket in space, like in orbit.
He's put some sub orbital ones but only one rocket
(07:00):
in space and all that time, and and he's put
billions and billions of his own money into it, and
he's made zero profit. And Elon Musk started space twenty
three years ago, I think maybe twenty four years ago,
and he put billions of his own money into it,
but he found ways to have people buy his product
(07:22):
way earlier, so that now he actually leads the world
and launch technology and is pulling away from all the competition,
and very shortly, just in a couple of days, he's
launching the starship again. We should radically change access to space.
I don't excuse either of those men for the bad
things they do. They aren't hugely imperfect human beings. But
(07:44):
at the same time, some of the things that are
happening in the world are pretty amazing here as well.
And I think it's important to keep perspective and make
your own judgment and not just you know, be a cynic.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Exactly, well, we're dying to see you back in Australia.
When you're on a long haul flight, you just sit
there and go hard fifty hours. Come on, say it up.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
I feel that way on a spaceship crossing the Pacific
it's it takes forty five minutes across. Come on, it's
just could we possibly get to shore?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Please? But oh, Chris, it's so great to talk to you.
Chris Hadfield's Guide to the Cosmos head to Faine dot
com dot are you Chris? So great to chat to you.
Thank you for joining.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Us my pleasure. I'm really looking forward to being in
a bunch of different cities across Australia in late June
and early July. I hope to see folks there.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Thank you Chris, Good on you mate,
My Heart podcasts here, more Gold one on one point
seven podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Playlists and listen live on the Free iHeart app You.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Jazy and Amanda jam Nation. Our next guest is Colonel
Chris Hadfield, acclaimed astronaut test pilot, space Walker, spaceship commander.
He's done so much and he charmed the world when
he's sang this song in space is.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Crowd control to me. Time You've really made the g.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Love it well. Chris is heading back to Australia and
we're thrilled to have him with us.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Now. Hello, Chris, how are you Hello? I'm doing great,
Thank you and thanks for playing that song and it's
nice to be chatting with you both.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Do you get some sort of royalty out of that?
I suppose it goes to David Bowie's estate. Did you
get a performer a bit of a performer.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Slice in truth that song? David Bowie last control of
it legally, and so the money goes to a law firm. Actually,
and I don't get a royalty, but you know that's
just how it goes, even for as successful and vollume
a musicians.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
As long as a lawyer is getting the money. Christ
that's good.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
So much to talk about at the moment. In terms
of space, let's talk about well, the most obvious one,
Katie Perry, Gal King, etcetera heading into space and being
called astronauts. Was it fair that the world reacted strangely
to that and thought that doesn't feel right? Was it fair?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
I don't know who it's fair too. It doesn't really
worry me at all. I mean, when when the Wright
brothers saw the very first airliners starting to fly and
taking wealthy passengers for rides, I don't think they were
bad about it or chagrined. They could easily see the
difference between a pilot and a passenger, and they're both.
(02:02):
What's the they're both air travelers, they're both maybe even aviators.
When you fly on quantus, are you an ava? Sorta?
So if you fly on board a spaceship as a passenger,
are you an astronaut? Yeah? Sort of. I mean it's
just a word. I'm not too worried about it. But
it was just kind of fun to watch, and they
sure made the most of the moment and it was just,
(02:23):
you know, a flash in the pan entertainment. Meanwhile, friends
of mine are living and working on the space station,
and two women did a long, arduous spacewalk nut for
a couple of weeks ago, and the most experienced astronaut
in American history is a woman. So I'm not too
worried about some folks posing and going for a ride.
It's just kind of entertaining.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
And you spend a bit of time and space when
you came back. What sort of adverse effects? What did
you feel when you came back to Earth's gravity.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
It's proportionate to how long you spent. They only spent
about three minutes up there, and so virtually no adverse
effects at all. Maybe a little nausea. But I spent
six months, and there's a huge readaptation of the body.
You lose muscle, fiber, your your balance system shuts down,
your heart shrinks, you lose bone, you get osteoporosis. I
(03:17):
lost about eight percent of the bone and my hip
cradle and my upper femur, and it took a significant
amount of time for each of those things to readapt
to Earth when I got back. The longest one was
my skeleton, and that's about three to one. So if
you spend six months in space, it took about eighteen
months to get my moone density back up. So, but
(03:38):
it was worth every second of it.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
It sounds well Sunni and Butch spent nine months up there.
They didn't expect to be in the space station for
that long psychologically, did you? How would that have been
for them to hear your journey is being extended. That's
a head game, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Yeah, But they were completely ready for it. And I
think the worst head game would have been if they
had taken the enormous risk of flying a brand new
rocket that no human being had ever flown before, and
then a spaceship built by Bowing that no human being
had ever flown before, the risk of that was huge.
(04:14):
And so to fly all the way up and successfully
dock with the space station and only stay for a
week and then come back, what a travesty of trade
off of risk. The best thing that could have happened
for them did, which was, Hey, we're not just going
to bring you home after just a week. You get
to stay. You get to actually live and work in space,
(04:35):
which is what astronauts trained for and dream of, you know,
it's what we do for a living. And so it
was the greatest reward for them both and they were
super productive. They made the space station more productive. Sonny
was the commander of the space station. They did space
walks together, and both of them have said that they
hoped to get a chance to fly at space again.
So they were never stranded, There was never a second
(04:58):
up there. They didn't have a vehicle to come home in.
There was all sorts of political and uninformed posturing about it,
but they had the time of their lives. And I've
spoken with Sonny rec and they're really hoping to have
a chance to fly in space again. So it's what
astronauts do for a living, and it's just kind of
funny sometimes to see how it gets misrepresented by folks
(05:19):
who are on the periphery of it.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
There's a lot of cynicism around the billionaires who are
funding these flights at the moment. But is that the
only way we'll be able to explore space now NASA
can't afford it on its own. Is it right that
we hitch rides with the billionaires.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Well, cynicism is the easiest of all positions to take
because it allows you to do no work and express
an opinion. So it's fine be a cynic but actually
try and go to space. That's hard, and that takes
a lifetime of work. So I listened far more to
people who are doing things than people who are sitting
in the comfort of their chair at home and being cynical.
(05:58):
You used to have to be a trillionaire to fly
in space because the technology was so bad and so early.
You had to be the United States or the Soviet Union.
No one else could pass afford it. But because so
many astronauts were willing to take risks and a bunch
of them died, we now have invented and improved the
(06:18):
technology so good that now a private citizen can fly
in space for the cost of a luxury car. And
there's still a lot of money, you know, a true
luxury car is a lot of money. But look around
Sydney or Melbourne or whatever. There's a lot of luxury
cars driving around, you know. So that's pretty incredible. And
(06:39):
the fact that wealthy people run huge companies is nothing new.
It's really complicated to fly in space. And Jeff Bezos
form Blue Origin in nineteen ninety seven, I think, and
he's only put one rocket in space, like in orbit.
He's put some sub orbital ones but only one rocket
(07:00):
in space and all that time, and and he's put
billions and billions of his own money into it, and
he's made zero profit. And Elon Musk started space twenty
three years ago, I think maybe twenty four years ago,
and he put billions of his own money into it,
but he found ways to have people buy his product
(07:22):
way earlier, so that now he actually leads the world
and launch technology and is pulling away from all the competition,
and very shortly, just in a couple of days, he's
launching the starship again. We should radically change access to space.
I don't excuse either of those men for the bad
things they do. They aren't hugely imperfect human beings. But
(07:44):
at the same time, some of the things that are
happening in the world are pretty amazing here as well.
And I think it's important to keep perspective and make
your own judgment and not just you know, be a cynic.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Exactly, well, we're dying to see you back in Australia.
When you're on a long haul flight, you just sit
there and go hard fifty hours. Come on, say it up.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
I feel that way on a spaceship crossing the Pacific
it's it takes forty five minutes across. Come on, it's
just could we possibly get to shore?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Please? But oh, Chris, it's so great to talk to you.
Chris Hadfield's Guide to the Cosmos head to Faine dot
com dot are you Chris? So great to chat to you.
Thank you for joining.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Us my pleasure. I'm really looking forward to being in
a bunch of different cities across Australia in late June
and early July. I hope to see folks there.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Thank you Chris, Good on you mate,
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