• An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth

  • By: Chris Hadfield
  • Narrated by: Chris Hadfield
  • Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (620 ratings)

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An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth

By: Chris Hadfield
Narrated by: Chris Hadfield
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Editorial 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.

Publisher's summary

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth is an inspirational memoir of space exploration and hard-won wisdom, from an astronaut who has spent a lifetime making 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, been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft, and become a YouTube sensation with his performance of David Bowie's ‘Space Oddity' in space. The secret to Chris Hadfield's success - and survival - is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst - and enjoy every moment of it.

In his book, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Chris 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 mesmerising 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 Colonel Hadfield. But his vivid and refreshing insights in this book 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

What listeners say about An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth

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Fantastic story read by the author with passion!

What made the experience of listening to An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth the most enjoyable?

Listening to the details of space life from the author himself.

What was one of the most memorable moments of An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth?

Details of the re-entry of Chris Hadfield and his crew in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Which character – as performed by Chris Hadfield – was your favorite?

Himself!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not really - it would have taken too long, but I liistened to it twice a day for a week and loved it.

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3 people found this helpful

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Simply excellent

enjoyed every minute of this book. thank you Chris for sharing a piece of your fascinating life with us.

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2 people found this helpful

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An absolute must-listen to all the dreamers!

If there's one type of videos on YouTube that I can never get enough of, it's space themed videos about performing simple everyday life tasks in space. This book has those details – and so much more!

An absolute must-read (or rather, listen) for all the dreamers out there! Most of us won't ever get to go to space, but we can learn about it and get inspired to live on Earth by doing so.

The fact that Chris Hadfield himself narrates the book was the reason I've chosen an audiobook rather than a physical copy, and it didn't disappoint for a second. Loved it!

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1 person found this helpful

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Wow... Just wow 😀

Absolutely loved this book! I've always been fascinated by space and hearing stories from someone who's been there is just amazing. If Chris ever feels like telling more stories about his journey, I'm ready to listen.

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Nice one

Very nice listening, a great perspective, a little outdated, that is how far we got un 10 years of space travel. Want to listen to space oddity now

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Amazing book

Thanks Chris, for all the amazing stories and the lessons. This made me not only more knowledgeable about space exploration but but more inspired as well.

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Written by my hero, narrated by my role model

I knew chris from his youtube "life in space" videos, then watched his Ted talks, then after a few years, learn that he actually has a book. Still yet to buy a physical book but i ll buy it to preach the life style that he has taught me.

The colonel says: Be prepared, work (hard), enjoy it. It works in every situation

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"Aim to be a zero."

If you're new to Audible, start with this one.

I could listen to Colonel narrating for ages. If everyone aspired to be even 1% of what he is, world would be a better place!

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got me to cry

got me to cry.
the book is pretty great with everything. i like it very much.
Chris is such a human. He totaly down to earth explains how he experienced everything.

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Legendary!!!

Nicely done and documented experience of an astronaut and challenges that come with his way of living. Worthwhile listen for anyone livining on Earth.

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