Canadian Chris Hadfield blasts off into space for 3rd time
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield blasted off into space this morning aboard a Soyuz spacecraft and is on his way to the International Space Station, where he is set to make history.
Hadfield, American Tom Marshburn and Russian Roman Romanenko lifted off at 7:12 a.m. ET (6:12 p.m. local time) in the freezing steppes of Baikonur, Kazakhstan, where temperatures were hovering around 30 C.
The astronauts could be seen waving, and giving the thumbs-up inside the spacecraft.
Just a few hours after the launch, Hadfield's sons took over their father's Twitter account and posted a message. "The Soyuz launch was an incredibly emotional experience," they wrote. "Godspeed, Dad. Your achievement has literally brought us all to tears."
Hadfield's sons will be posting on his Twitter account over the next few days.
The current Soyuz is an upgraded version of the unmanned spacecraft first used by the Soviet space program in 1966.
All three had been in Baikonur for the past two weeks to prepare for the trip, which includes a two-day journey to the International Space Station, where they will be in orbit for five months. Hadfield will take over command of the ISS in March the first time a Canadian has done so.
"Yes I'll take it seriously and yes it's important for Canada, but for me as just a Canadian kid, it makes me want to shout and laugh and do cartwheels," Hadfield told CBC News recently.
The crew will spend 147 days in orbit before their scheduled landing on May 14.
Canadians at home and abroad will be watching Hadfield's journey closely. Gov. Gen. David Johnston joined other officials at the Canadian Space Agency east of Montreal on Wednesday to watch the spacecraft carrying the Canadian astronaut blast off.
"What a great day to be here at the Canadian Space Agency, a great day for Canada, a great day for the world of discovery and innovation," Johnston said. "We're so proud that Chris Hadfield is now up in space, the first Canadian to be commanding the space station."
Former Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk, who also watched the launch from the space agency, added, "Pride is what I feel. I'm part of this Canadian astronaut corps which has existed for over a quarter century now. We've taken small baby steps which have culminated today."
Hadfield, a Milton, Ont., native, still cant believe what he's about to do.
"You expect someone to come in and go, 'Wait a minute, you aren't a guy that could command a spaceship, come on.' You expect to get busted by somebody because it's just such an unlikely thing to ever happen in your life, and so it absolutely thrills me just as a person."
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Tiny island centre of dispute between Canada and the U.S.
Machias Seal Island a seabird sanctuary
FREDERICTON A tiny island between New Brunswick and Maine is the subject of renewed calls from both sides of the border to settle a territorial dispute once and for all.
Machias Seal Island is a flat, treeless piece of rock located about 19 kilometres southwest of Grand Manan Island at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy.
The island is a sanctuary for many kinds of seabirds including the Atlantic Puffin and draws visitors from around the world to observe them in the summer.
There are no permanent human residents on the island, just pairs of lightkeepers who spend 28 days at a time maintaining a lighthouse operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The original lighthouse was built by the British in 1832, and a lighthouse has been maintained there ever since.
So why would anyone even care which country gets title to Machias Seal Island?
The answer lies in the 720 square kilometres of water around the island in whats called a grey zone. Lobster fishermen from both Canada and the U.S. fish these waters.
The fishing community on Grand Manan is permitted to fish there on an open-end basis and its our way of laying our claim to this water that is part of the Machias Seal Island dispute, said MP John Williamson, who represents the riding of New Brunswick-Southwest.
Williamson said the island is considered to be in his riding.
I think our claim is sound and is legitimate, but at the end of the day its going to come down to the minister in this country and the administration in Washington to settle it, he said.
I think it is in the interests of both of our countries to do that.
That feeling is echoed by Stephen Kelly, a professor at the Center for Canadian Studies at Duke University and a retired American diplomat who has served in Canada.
It just strikes me if we have this opportunity to remove a potential irritant going forward, why dont we take it? Kelly said in an interview from his office in Durham, N.C.
Kelly put his thoughts in a commentary for The New York Times last month, which he said he was prompted to write after seeing territorial disputes that have erupted between Japan and China over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.
He said while the situation between Canada and the United States is much different, land disputes are better settled.
What if some valuable resource is discovered in the grey zone around Machias Seal Island? What if some other contingency that we cant imagine now of strategic importance comes along? he asked.
Wouldnt we feel silly that we didnt take the opportunity to resolve this when the stakes were relatively low.
For Ralph Eldridge, a Canadian who has been a lightkeeper on the island for the last 16 years, the question of who owns Machias Seal Island is a non-issue, something that is never a question from the visitors who travel to the island each summer.
And Eldridge said he doesnt have to produce his passport to go there.
But neither does someone from the United States or China or Japan or Spain have to when they come to the island, he said.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade said ownership of the island and surrounding waters is clear as far as Canada is concerned: they are Canadian.
Canadas sovereignty over Machias Seal Island and sovereign jurisdiction over the 210 square nautical mile surrounding waters is strongly founded in international law, Barbara Harvey said in a statement.
Great food, although I would caution visitors to get a check up at your cardiologist before tucking into a plate of poutine from Quebec. It's a heart attack covered in gravy. 
