Singing astronaut Chris Hadfield, whose orbital version of David Bowie's Space Oddity went viral last month, has announced his retirement from the space programme.
The musical astronaut, 53, who gained international prominence for his regular use of social media from space, announced his departure in his usual style - on Twitter.
The well-loved space-walking star tweeted on Monday a photo of all of Canadian Space Agency (CSA) colleagues waving goodbye to him, with the words: 'To say goodbye to these good people today was much harder than I expected.'
Signing off: Astronaut Chris Hadfield gave a thumbs up after his last space mission landed safely last month. He tweeted his retirement yesterdayAt an earlier press conference, at the CSA headquarters in Montreal, Chris said he will depart next month, leaving behind his longtime home in Houston, where he built his career as an astronaut.
Watch video of the landing below...
After decades away from his family, he told the media he now plans to do talks and presentations on space while reflecting over the coming year on his next move.
Chris dined with the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and his wife prior to his final farewell speech at the CSA HQ.
His departure draws to a close a lifetime of work as a pilot and astronaut, which began in 1992 when he was selected as one of four new Canadian astronauts from a field of 5,330 applicants.
His first space mission would be just three years later.
Emotional farewell: Chris Hadfield tweeted this picture Monday as he announced his retirement from the Canadian Space Agency, saying leaving was 'harder than expected' Tweeting goodbye: The astronaut has become an internet sensation through his prolific tweets including incredible videos and pictures from spaceThe military fighter pilot was first assigned by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in August of the same year.
His first astronaut job was to address technical and safety issues for shuttle operations development; he contributed to the development of the glass shuttle cockpit; and supported shuttle launches at the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida.
In addition, Hadfield was NASA's Chief CapCom, the voice of mission control to astronauts in orbit, for 25 space shuttle missions.
From 1996 to 2000, he represented CSA astronauts and coordinated their activities as the chief astronaut for the CSA.
He then moved to Russia for two years, as director of operations for NASA at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC) in Star City, Russia.
