Hadfield named space station commander

Hadfield will launch aboard a Soyuzspacecraftlate in2012, Gary Goodyear, minister of state for science and technology, told a news conference Thursday in Longueuil, Que.The exact date of the launch has not been set, but it will likely be in either late November or early December.

In March 2013, Hadfieldwill take commandfor the second half ofthe six-month mission, overseeing the work of five other astronauts.

"To be trusted on their lives is a tremendous honour that all of us share," he said, calling the opportunity extremely challenging, exciting and rewarding.

It will be his third journey into space.

The Ontario native, whowas born in Sarnia and raised in Milton, willco-pilot the Soyuz rocket en route to the space station.

There,Hadfield,NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn Russian and cosmonaut RomanRomanenko will join NASA astronaut Kevin Ford and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin, who are launching in October 2012, NASA said in a news release.

Hadfieldwillspend his first four months at the station working as its flight engineer, performing scientific experiments, robotics tasks and technology demonstrations. He may also be asked to undertake a spacewalk.

As commander, he will be responsible for the safety of the crew, ongoing operations, maintenance and equipment of the space station, and will oversee scientific experiments. He may alsooperate the robotic Canadarm2 to perform assembly and maintenance tasks or helpberth spacecraft to the station.

He is scheduled to return to Earth in a Soyuz spacecraft in June 2013.

Over the next two years,Hadfield will undergorigorous training in Canada, the U.S.,Japan, Russia and Europe.

The crew of Hadfield's mission will also be the backup crew for the June 2012 mission to the space station.

Goodyear said the selection of a Canadian to command the space station "reflects the achievements of our space exploration program and the renowned quality of our Canadian Astronaut Corps."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said it was "a great honour, not just for[Hadfield] but for the entire country.