Chris Hadfield has tirelessly kept us humble Earthlings up to speed on his mission aboard the International Space Station over the last five months and his final hours in orbit have been no exception.
Hadfield shared a touching goodbye message from space Sunday and said his time away from the planet has actually made him feel "closer to people."
"Not closer because I miss them, just closer because seeing this way and being able to share it through all the media that we've used has allowed me to get a direct reflection back, immediate, from so many people that makes me feel like I'm actually there with people more," Hadfield said. "That we're having a conversation, that this experience is not individual, but it's shared, and it's mutual and it's worldwide."
On Monday afternoon he also posted a beautiful photo of a sunrise as seen from space.
Even though Hadfield has clearly enjoyed his time on the space station, he said he's looking forward to returning to the "reality, the smells of it, the sounds of it, the noise of it, the clutter, the life of Earth."
Hadfield's final reflections were released on YouTube at roughly the same time as his rendition of David Bowie's "Space Oddity," the first music video ever recorded in space and an immediate viral phenomenon.
The video quickly racked up more than a million views and gushing reactions from celebrities and fans alike. Check out some of their reactions below.
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On top of social media updates, Hadfield performed 100 science experiments during his mission — such as examining changes to the spine, bone density, and nutrition in space.
He became the first Canadian to ever take command of the giant orbiting laboratory.
In his two previous space missions in 1995 and 2001, Hadfield glided smoothly back to solid ground on the now-retired U.S. space shuttles.
This will be Hadfield's first return space flight inside the cramped Russian space capsule — and it's going to be a hard landing.
"The (former U.S.) shuttle kind of flies its way into the atmosphere and then picks up on wings and lands," he said.
"The (Russian) Soyuz comes in a little more meteorite-like — and then a parachute opens and we come down and we let the Earth know that we're back. The Soyuz hits with definite force when we land."
It will take about three-and-half hours before the trio lands on Earth after leaving the space station.
You can see some of the best photos from Hadfield's trip in the slideshow below.
With files from The Canadian Press
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