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RTE’s Ryan Tubridy captured the mood of the country tonight when his heart melted when Toy Show hero Adam King met his hero Chris Hadfield.
Tubs was on the verge of tears, as were viewers across the country, when six-year-old Adam spoke with Chris from NASA on tonight’s Late Late Show.
Adam met Chris alongside his brothers and sisters, and the brothers huddled together on the video call for a heartwarming conversation with the famous astronaut.
He asked Chris, “Were you scared on your first space mission?” – one of the amazing questions in a beautiful conversation between the couple.
“You have your whole life to prepare,” Chris replied, with a beautiful response.
The six-year-old from Cork, obsessed with space, told Tubridy that he wants to work in ground control at NASA when he grows up.
Adam told Ireland’s largest television audience that he can’t be an astronaut because he has brittle bones.
Commander Hadfield said: “It has been really nice to see and have a little more direct contact with Adam and his family.
“We need that combination of unstoppable curiosity, but also the willingness to put in the work to support it. It’s great to see an example like Adam.”
The young man from Youghal was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, a condition that causes brittle bones and stunted growth that can make him prone to fractures.
The couple connected through a video link and Adam shared details of his missions to the “moon and other planets” with his brothers.
He went on to ask Commander Hadfield if he was afraid on his first mission.
The astronaut said: “When I was six I was scared because I didn’t know everything I needed to know yet, but I changed who I was, Adam.
“I studied and read books and watched movies and talked to people who knew what they were doing, and I practiced, just like you, over and over again.
“The day I was going to space, I went up and passed the elevator and lay on the rocket on my back, although it was dangerous because I knew what I was doing, I was not afraid because I was ready.
“I’d rather be ready than be scared, and you have your whole life to prepare.”
Commander Hadfield told Adam about his experience as a CAPCOM or capsule communicator at NASA.
(Image: RTE Late Late show)
He said, “Capcom is a fascinating job, you’re in the thick of it, it’s like a mystery, constantly solving things.
“You have to trust your own ability and the ability of the people around you.
“That kind of environment, it seems to me that he (Adam) could thrive.
“Perhaps most importantly now, it inspires him to pursue things that he would never have otherwise felt the freedom to pursue and that can be so important.” Sure, you will end up doing something great with your life, but the process and the inspiration I think is very important and that’s part of the reflection that I really like to see as well. “
Tubs spoke to Adam from his home in Cork with his dad David and his brothers by his side.
Adam revealed that his schoolmates gave him an honor guard after his appearance on Toy Show.
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