Chris Hadfield can't wait to finally visit his daughter's Dublin home now that Covid restrictions are easing.
The Canadian astronaut's daughter Kristin returned to work in Trinity College, where she previously studied, in September 2020.
Cmdr Hadfield told Dublin Live he hopes to get back to the country soon to see her home and head for the pubs to play some traditional music.
He said: "As soon as the pandemic allows there will be more visits. We were lucky enough that our daughter could be back with us in Canada at Christmas.
"I haven't even seen my daughter's house there yet so I'm very much looking forward to my first visit once we get ourselves back to an acceptable level of safety."
The 62-year-old became a global sensation when a video of him performing David Bowie's Space Oddity on the International Space Station went viral.
The multi-talented spaceman also has a deep love of Irish music and has performed with The Chieftains several times.
"I even played with the Chieftains from space," he said.
"I played in a Celtic music band for years playing lots of Irish music and as a friend of Paddy Moloney, I was very sad that he passed away recently. I love the music."
He addedthat he never leaves home without his guitar and even left one on the space station after he departed for the final time.
"Music goes with us everywhere - even when you leave the planet."
Cmdr Hadfield also revealed his admiration for Gaelic games but remained diplomatic when pressed on whether he thought Sam Maguire would return to the capital this year.
"I've had a chance to go to Croke Park and watch sport there and a little bit of hurling around the country, although I've zero talent," he said.
"But I got to see some really good local sport, I love sport. There's strong sport here in Canada that I support and am very passionately involved in.
"So, I feel very strongly no matter where you are in the world, I hope that your favourite team wins this year."
Since retiring from the Canadian Space Agency, Chris has turned his attention to writing and released his first novel, The Apollo Murders late last year.
Described as a Cold War thriller from the dark heart of the space race, the world's favourite space explorer hopes it will give readers some insight into what it's like to fly into the great unknown.
"A lot of people love the escapism of a good thriller fiction book and I thought this would be a really interesting personal challenge to see if I'm capable of writing a good thriller novel," he said.
"But also as a way of really letting people in on the inside of what it is like to actually fly in space."
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