A former F-18 pilot and test pilot, Chris Hadfield became an astronaut after retiring from the Canadian Forces. He was chosen as one of four new Canadian astronauts in 1992 and became the first Canadian to operate the Canadarm in orbit, the only Canadian to ever board the Russian space station Mir and was the first Canadian to walk in space. In December 2012 Chris Hadfield was again launched into space and commanded the Inter­na­tional Space Station for the second half of a 5-month mission.