Marlborough ‘most appealing’ destination from space

Marlborough is the place one famous astronaut most wants to visit having seen it from 200 miles above the Earth’s surface.

Commander Chris Hadfield’s photograph of Marlborough from space

Commander Chris Hadfield, who commanded the International Space Station last year has said that Marlborough in New Zealand is the place he most wants to visit now that he is back on terra firma.

The Canadian astronaut and former fighter pilot shot to fame last year for his pictures (he took some 45,000 by his own estimate) and videos sent from the ISS, including a version of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”.

One tweet picture was of Marlborough itself (pictured), captioned: “Blenheim, New Zealand, in the lovely centre of wine country.”

Hadfield was asked by Lucy Hockings of the BBC on the programme “Impact” which part of the world he most wanted to visit to which he replied: “The wine country of the South Island on the north end of New Zealand.

“It just looks so beautiful.”

Hockings then admitted it was where she grew up.”It’s a very photogenic part of the world you’re from,” he told her.

He added later he found it “addictive” watching the world go past at eight kilometres a second and how New Zealand was the last sight of land before the Pacific Ocean, which takes half an hour to cross.

The full interview can be seen here and Hadfield’s version of Space Oddity below.