A message to remember from the not-so-final frontier

I, quite literally, got a message this week from out of this world.

I received a tweet from Cmdr. Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut on board the International Space Station (ISS).

I was one of only a handful of Canadians, at that point, he had contacted publicly.

Imagine: from my smartphone, I was communicating with someone in outer space.

I started the back and forth. I was filling in on CBC-TVs Here& Now as the weather presenter and saw a picture of St. Johns from the ISS that Hadfield had tweeted ashe passed over on Jan. 2.

I wrote him a quick tweet letting him know I planned to use the photo during my next weather segment as the "viewer picture."

I never dreamed that moments later my smartphone would be the equivalent of a Star Trek "communicator" and Id be in touch with someone in space.

"Thanks Lee," Hadfield tweeted. Hethen asked me to say hello to his brother, sister-in-law and two nephews. "They live there in Paradise."

Surrealmoment from space

It was a surreal moment, standing in my kitchen, staring at my handheld device, seeing a tweet from an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.

Space always seemed so far away. Something wed see in TV clips during shuttle missions and launches. Otherwise, it was something we imagined while watching shows like Star Trek.

But suddenly, my own handheld device essentially performed the same task as that of Captain James T. Kirks communicator. Its as close to a "beam me up" moment Ill ever have.

That moment became a barometer for me of where things are now.

We grew up watching shuttle launches. Today, thanks to Hadfield, the average person on Twitter can get regular updates of life in space, see how the world looks from orbit.

Hadfield is on the ISS for five months, carrying out scientific experiments, operating the Canadarm and performing other tasks with robotics.

He launched into space on Dec. 19, and takes over as commander of the station in March. But already, hes sparked interest from the average person with his Twitter updatesand from not-so-average people, too.

One of those is Captain Kirk himself, or the actor who played him. William Shatner also "opened hailing frequencies" with Hadfield on board the ISS.

"Are you tweeting from space?" Shatner asked in a message on Twitter.

"Yes, Standard Orbit, Captain," Hadfield responded. "And we're detecting signs of life on the surface."

Hadfield later wrote on Twitter that he regretted wearing a red shirt while chatting with Shatner. For the non-Trekkies, the ensign in the red shirt on Star Trek usually dies.

Hadfield is accessible, has a sense of humour, is an apparent Trekkie, and hes doing it all from space.

His star must now be rising even more. American network television is covering his interaction with Shatner from space. His Twitter account must have exploded. Hes become a sensation. Even Peter Mansbridge joked that Hadfield is gaining more Twitter followers than Justin Bieber.

If one of Hadfields experiments is to revitalize public interest in the Canadian and NASA space programs, it seems hes succeeding.

My little interaction from space is more than just a tweet. Its what that tweet represents how technology has advanced, and how accessible weve all become.

And before I forget, hello to "Phil, wife Teresa, hockey-playing boys Taylor & Andrew" from Chris. He asked me to pass it along.

Space, the final frontier, suddenly feels a lot closer.

For me, a message from space landed, literally, in the palm of my hand.