An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth

What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination and Being Prepared For Anything

New York Times Bestseller

  • Language:
    Publisher:
  • English (United States)
    Little, Brown
  • English (Audio Edition - U.S.)
    Hachette Audio
  • English (Canada)
    Random House Canada
  • English (U.K./ANZ)
    Pan Macmillan
  • Arabic
    Arabic Scientific Publishers
  • Chinese (Complex)
    Locus Publishing Company
  • Chinese (Simplified)
    Hunan Science & Technology Press
  • Czech
    Euromedia Group
  • Danish
    Art People
  • Dutch
    Karakter
  • Estonian
    Eram Books
  • French (Canada)
    Librex
  • German
    Heyne
  • Greek
    S. Patakis Publications
  • Hebrew
    Modan
  • Hungarian
    Akkord
  • Japanese
    Hayakawa
  • Korean
    Guilbut
  • Polish
    ZNAK
  • Portuguese (Brazil)
    Editora Nova Fronteira
  • Portuguese (Portugal)
    Bertrand Editora
  • Romanian
    Nemira Publishing
  • Russian
    Alpina Publishing
  • Slovak
    Ikar
  • Spanish
    Ediciones B
  • Swedish
    Vida Förlag
  • Turkish
    Tubitak
  • Vietnamese
    Asbooks/AZ Group Company
About An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth:

Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4000 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, and been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft. The secret to Col. Hadfield’s success-and survival-is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst-and enjoy every moment of it.

In An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers 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 mesmerizing 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 Col. Hadfield. But his vivid and refreshing insights will teach you how to think like an astronaut, and will change, completely, the way you view life on Earth-especially your own.


Awards, Nominations, and Distinctions:

BestsellerThe New York Times

BestsellerLos Angeles Times

#1 BestsellerThe Globe and Mail 

Book of the Year Selection – Slate

Winner – CBA Libris Non-Fiction Book of the Year


Critical Praise:

"A page-turning memoir of life as a decorated astronaut."

Kirkus


"The vacuum of space is unforgiving and brutal. Life on earth isn’t easy, either. Mr. Hadfield has genuinely and refreshingly increased our understanding of how to thrive in both places."

Adam Savage, in The Wall Street Journal


"Lessons from his new book, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, are so inspiring that it's hard to decide which one to tell you about."

USA Today


"Hadfield proves himself to be not only a fierce explorer of the universe, but also a deeply thoughtful explorer of the human condition, capable of articulating those most universal of inquiries in simple yet profound language....The book itself is absolutely spectacular."

Brain Pickings


"Riveting, dramatic and intensely engrossing, Hadfield's engaging style as a writer puts you right alongside this almost absurdly compelling gentleman as he climbs the ladder from Canadian fighter pilot through two space shuttle missions and, ultimately, his serving as commander of the ISS."

The Huntington Beach Independent


About the Author(s):

Colonel Chris Hadfield is one of the most seasoned and accomplished astronauts in the world. A multiple New York Times bestselling author, his books An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, You Are Here and The Apollo Murders have sold over a million copies worldwide.

As well as his time as a Cold War pilot, Chris is a veteran of three spaceflights. He crewed the US Space Shuttle twice, piloted the Russian Soyuz, helped build space station Mir, conducted two space walks, and served as Commander of the International Space Station. He was also NASA’s Director of Operations in Russia.

Chris is the co-creator and host of the BBC series Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes? and helped create and host, along with actor Will Smith, the National Geographic series One Strange RockHis zero-gravity version of David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ has received more than 50 million views, and his TED talk on fear over 10 million.

He advises SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and other space companies, chairs the board of the Open Lunar Foundation, leads the CDL-Space international tech incubator, and teaches a MasterClass on space operations.


Other Editions:
  • English (Audio Edition)

  • English (Canadian Hardcover)

  • English (Canadian Paperback)

  • English (U.K.)

  • English (U.K.)

  • English (Indigo 25th Anniversary Special Edition)

  • Arabic

  • Chinese (Simplified)

  • Chinese (Traditional)

  • Czech

  • Danish

  • Dutch

  • Estonian

  • French (Canada)

  • German

  • Greek

  • Hebrew

  • Hungarian

  • Japanese

  • Korean

  • Polish

  • Portuguese (Brazil)

  • Portuguese (Port.)

  • Romanian

  • Russian

  • Slovak

  • Spanish

  • Turkish

  • Vietnamese


Other Books by Chris Hadfield:
  • The Apollo Murders

  • The Darkest Dark

  • The Defector

  • You Are Here