Canadian astronaut Hadfield describes feeling banged-up after return to gravity

LONGUEUIL, Que. – Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield says his body is confused and banged-up after his five-month stay in space.

He says he has dizziness and that his body feels as though it’s gone through the wringer.

Hadfield held a news conference from Houston this morning just a few days after returning from the International Space Station.

He said his back is sore and that he feels as though he has just played a hard game of rugby or hockey.

Hadfield has announced that his use of social media, which earned him an international audience, won’t end with his return to Earth.

He had 20,000 Twitter followers when he blasted off with Russian space colleague Roman Romanenko and NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn on Dec. 19, 2012. Upon his return to Earth this week, Hadfield was hovering around one million followers.

Hadfield said the point of using social media was not to gain fame — but to teach people about space exploration.