'Space Oddity' astronaut's suit turns up in thrift store

Published October 21, 2015

File photo. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield (R) attends a news conference behind a glass wall at the Baikonur cosmodrome Dec. 18, 2012. (REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov)

Remember that astronaut who sang David Bowie's "Space Oddity" on the International Space Station? Chris Hadfield is making headlines again—or rather, his flight suit is. Somehow the blue outfit ended up in a Toronto thrift store, CBC reports.

"I thought, wow, what is a flight suit like that doing up there?" says Dr. Julielynn Wong. When she saw the "Chris Hadfield" badge on the jumpsuit, "My jaw just dropped," she says.

She bought the suit for a mere $40. To make the find even more incredible, Wong, who studied space medicine, actually knows Hadfield, ABC News reports: "I trained with him; we actually had lunch," she says.

She contacted him on Facebook and was able to confirm the suit's identity with a photo and some detailed information. So how did it end up in a thrift store? The former ISS commander himself doesn't know, telling Wong it's "a mystery to me." He's "had many flight suits over the years," Wong tells ABC.

"It's possible that it inadvertently got placed in a donations bag when he moved back to Canada after living abroad for 20 years." Now, she plans to use it in lectures she gives on space supplies.

"This way, the flight suit is much more inspiring for the next generation of space pioneers and innovators," she says. (Click to watch Hadfield's version of "Space Oddity.")

This article originally appeared on Newser: 'Space Oddity' Astronaut's Suit Turns Up in Thrift Shop