joining me now is Colonel Chris Hadfield retired astronaut and author his most recent book is called The Defector it's the follow-up novel to his number one bestselling Thriller the Apollo murders good morning to you thanks so much for being with us so in your opinion did this space walk process go smoothly you this was the very first time uh that they've ever worn this space suit and the first time they've ever taken all the air out of a SpaceX capsule and everything worked it's a real tribute to the engineering uh the willingness of the crew to take risk and the years of preparation that brought them in so yeah I got real kudos for how it worked and it opens the door to tremendous opportunity in the future Marcia yeah and we'll talk more about that in just a second um so much has been made uh uh Chris about these space suits what are the unique characteristics of these suits that the astronauts are wearing uh the space suit that I for um my first two space walks was old I mean it was designed in the 60s and um built in the early ' 80s so 40 years old this one they've used a latest of manufacturing techniques right from the beginning integrating everything together trying to make it as simple for the crew as possible easy to get on easy to get off make it flexible so movement is easier trying to lower the overhead lower the cost just taking advantage of uh 40 Years of invention and development vment and this is the suit you know that people are going to be wearing not just on upcoming SpaceX missions but eventually a a sort of maybe a granddaughter of this suit on the surface of the Moon so pretty important First Step so not very many people have had the view that isaacman and Gillis had today you certainly had it can you describe what that experience is like Marcia imagine if you're in a small really dark cramp room and you open this heavy door on one end and then as you pull yourself through the door you emerge out into the universe with with with the world there next to you like some big magic Kaleidoscope of a ball it is so breathtakingly different um such a a big personal step but also kind of a step for Humanity out into the rest of the universe it it absolutely takes takes over your thought it it is mind stopping beautiful and I'm really pleased that two more human beings got to see that today you're giving me butterflies just your description so as you say this opens the door for future possibilities so what is it about this journey that allows for that and and makes this Mission really so significant well uh there are really only two types of space suits in the world the one the Soviets designed that the Chinese have largely copied and the ones the American designed uh and they're old 40 50 years old so uh to take advantage of new technology uh to build a suit that can now be developed into even more capability that's what we need as we get further and further from Earth and uh the Chinese have stated categorically they will have people walking on the Moon by 20 by 2030 you know 5 years from now so this a big moment in history and you need ships and you need the protective clothing that allow you to explore and live in these new places that's what's being developed here I just find it so exciting that this is going on right now this is where we are in history and we're all a part of it and great to see that step today so um final question then for you because there were a lot of doubters about this a lot of people were concerned that this would go off without a hitch and that perhaps space um is becoming too accessible to quote unquote normal people what do you think easiest thing in the world is to be a Critic and a doubter because you don't have to actually do anything the hard part is spending years and years doing the work and that's what SpaceX has done thousands and thousands of Engineers including lots of Canadian Engineers that are working at SpaceX but then the crew themselves Jerick isaacman who's put so many years of his life into being the commander of this Mission uh I I spoke to him in great detail about today's space walk talking about you know the big risk thresholds and and how to get himself ready he's a really sharp guy but uh I was really pleased to see him execute all of those steps properly today and um and it's just the start now of what this suit will do in the future so I'm very pleased for all of us Colonel Chris Hadfield retired astronaut and now author his most recent book is The Defector thanks again and great to have you with us this morning thank you Marcia