It seems appropriate that we conclude this #Maythe4thbewithyou week with a post that mentions Canada's most famous astronaut! The GCCB's Deputy Content Curator is a shameless Chris Hadfield fan-girl. In case you aren't familiar with him, Chris Hadfield is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, and former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot. The first Canadian to walk in space, Hadfield has flown two Space Shuttle missions and served as commander of the International Space Station (ISS). A pretty impressive resumé you must agree!
Whilst serving as commander of the ISS Cdr. Hadfield took 45,000 pictures of the Earth published later in his book, 'You are here: Around the World in 92 Minutes.'
You would understand that Cdr. Hadfield had a particular interest in taking photos of Canada, such as this one showing the border with the US between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario (to the left).
Photo credit: Chris Hadfield/NASA
It would be fascinating to see how these pictures, if taken again now, might change to reflect the environmental and social impact of the current pandemic and lock-down.
For example, here are two images of Los Angeles, California. The left is from July 1998 and the right from March 2020. The reduction of both traffic and manufacturing in the city has had a massive impact on air quality.
Photo Credit: Nick UT/AP, Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today/Reuters
But there's as much to be gained from looking up right now, as there is down and around! Imagine if the current lock down could also reduce light pollution....how beautiful the night sky might look.
Well, imagine no further. Under Lucky Stars have done the work for us. Click this link to see the night sky 're-imagined' across 27 global locations, including Canada's very own Toronto!
Cover Photo Credit: Derek Houston - Night Sky Images - Manitoulin
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