Astronaut Chris Hadfield’s wife Helene had to initially take on a lot of the home responsibilities and child rearing to allow her husband pursue his career, he admits. And so they took the rather unusual option at holiday time of Chris taking the children away for a fortnight, but not Helene. Working in the armed forces for the majority of his children’s lives meant that Chris was away from his children a significant amount of time. With a new Irish granddaughter Chris “couldn’t be more delighted”, and he discusses the excitement and anxiety of awaiting her arrival from a distance. “If you’re the child of someone like that, then if you’re successful ‘well of course you’re successful.

Source: The Irish Times October 28, 2025 22:26 UTC