15 ways Chris Hadfield is awesome

1. Chris Hadfield loves music. He recently made a David Bowie music video cover. From space:

2. His musical prowess doesn't stop there. In what's probably the most epic song collaboration between earth and space, Hadfield teamed up with the Barenaked Ladies' Ed Robertson:

3. He is the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station (and who doesn't like Canadians?). When Hadfield was a kid, Canada didn't even have an astronaut program.

PHOTO COURTESY: CSA.

4. As a Canadian, he does his civic duty by sharing his love of maple syrup with the world:

5. He's been training to be an astronaut for decades and still finds space fascinating:

"To be able to command the space station, yes, it's professional, and yes I'll take it seriously and yes it's important for Canada, but for me as just a Canadian kid, it makes me want to shout and laugh and do cartwheels."

6. Hadfield knows how to sport a good 'stache:

PHOTO COURTESY: CSA.

7. Hadfield said he'd totally consider the one-way ticket to Mars.

8. Forbes described Hadfield as probably "the most social media savvy astronaut ever to leave Earth." It doesn't take long to figure out why when you look at his amazing Twitter feed:

9. How did the 53-year-old become such a social media phenom? With the help of his two sons, of course. From the Guardian:

Dad wanted a way to help people connect the real side of what an astronaut's life is – not just the glamour and science, but also the day-to-day activities," Evan Hadfield told the Guardian, noting that neither Nasa nor the Canadian Space Agency manages the images posted to the web or interactions with the astronaut's 420,000 followers. "He posts to Twitter and I work with him to help spread that information to the rest of the internet.

10. He has a sense of humor:

11. He shows us the wonders of everyday life in space. Here's what it's like to cry:

12. Or to eat floating chocolate pudding cake:

13. Or to properly throw up if you get sick in space:

14. Even on the ISS, he is dedicated to haute couture:

15. He's the role model everyone should have growing up:

Decide in your heart of hearts what really excites and challenges you, and start moving your life in that direction. Every decision you make, from what you eat to what you do with your time tonight, turns you into who you are tomorrow, and the day after that. Look at who you want to be, and start sculpting yourself into that person. You may not get exactly where you thought you’d be, but you will be doing things that suit you in a profession you believe in. Don’t let life randomly kick you into the adult you don’t want to become.