Live Chat Replay: Chris Hadfield's space mission

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has shared the following images on Twitter in recent days. (@Cmdr_Hadfield/Twitter)

Chris Hadfield, who has been living in space since December, has now become the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station - and it's not the first time the astronaut has gone where no Canadian has gone before.

Hadfield is quite the history maker. Some of his other laurels include:

• First Canadian mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Atlantis (1995)
• First Canadian to operate the Canadarm in orbit (1995)
• First Canadian to board Russian Space Station Mir (1995)
• First Canadian to leave a spacecraft and float freely in space (2001)
  

Throughout the course of his most recent space adventure, Hadfield has been busy conducting scientific experiments, operating Canadarm2, and taking stunning photographs of the planet he left behind.

But it's Hadfield's social media savvy and eagerness to connect with average earthlings that has really earned the Ontario-born astronaut an international following.

• Chris Hadfield fans gleeful as astronaut becomes ISS commander

With notable eloquence, he has expressed his love for space, science and his species on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and YouTube.

He has held videoconferences with school children, has recorded a song with Barenaked Ladies frontman Ed Robertson, and has even appeared on CBC's Rick Mercer Report with an offer to do your taxes in space.

All this outreach from outer space has earned him thousands of enthusiastic fans.

This week on CBC Live Online, host Lauren O'Neil lead a discussion about what Hadfield has already achieved in his months in space, as well as what his new role as ISS commander will entail.

Special guests included:

• Evan Hadfield, Chris Hadfield's son and social media manager.
• Richard Hughson, University of Waterloo professor and lead researcher for two science experiments Hadfield is conducting in space
• Edward Tabarah, Deputy Chief of the Canadian Astronaut Office at Canadian Space Agency
• Dave Williams, Canadian Astronaut (retired from active duty) and first Canadian to have lived and worked in space and in the ocean [technology permitting, as Williams will be joining us from a remote location]
  

Watch the full replay here: