Canadian Astronaut Mistakes Bay Bridge for Golden Gate Bridge

By Joe Eskenazi Thu., Jan. 24 2013 at 3:59 PM

Chris Hadfield

A bridge too far...

In space, no one can hear you scream. It follows, then, that no one can hear you when you scream that an astronaut has apparently misidentified San Francisco's most famous bridge.

In his Twitter feed, Canadian spaceman Commander Chris Hadfield sends along a breathtaking photo of the Bay Area. "The Golden Gate Bridge from space, and if you look closely, its shadow," reads Hadfield's caption.

Perhaps we're missing something -- but it appears that it's easier to mistake the Bay Bridge for its prettier and more famous counterpart from space than terra firma. The more prominent bridge in this shot, with the more prominent shadow, is definitely the Bay Bridge.

In no way, however, do we lose any respect for the commander. He hails from Ontario, and we'd be hard-pressed to identify that province's landmarks from a range of 100 feet, let alone 100 miles.

The Bay Bridge, long the draught horse to the Golden Gate Bridge's unicorn, can stand tall today. This is all but certainly the first time a Canadian astronaut on the International Space Station mistook it for its International Orange compatriot via social media.

Beauty, eh?

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MRB143

Do you really know what Commander Hadfield was viewing from space? Your January 2013 article uses an aerial photograph probably taken around 2009 before the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge was started. Definitely not right to ridicule another for the sake of a catchy headline. Questionable journalism at its best!

randolph.fleming topcommenter

A real hoser , eh ?

Clarissa Ryan

(At least the article is a little more nuanced, but ... yeah, jeez, hardly worth blogging about.)

JD956

@Clarissa Ryan Yeah that's hardly worth blogging about ...it's almost as bad as writing a blog post about the words "hat" and "shoes" : D LoL http://www.readableblog.com/2011/01/10/hats-and-shoes/#comments

Clarissa Ryan

So what? Most people have never heard of any Bay Area bridges other than the Golden Gate Bridge OH NO PEOPLE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES DON'T KNOW ABOUT OUR CIVIC ENGINEERING Quick, name a Canadian bridge. :|

Jenny Ma

?! both bridges are in the shot. ugh

Thomas Murphy

I need a job.

publicq

2 Like

Both bridges are in the shot, and both shadows can be seen. There's no reason to believe the photographer was mistaking one for the other. This is a total non-story.