Now that is cool!

I knew Hadfield was not your run-of-the-mill astronaut - he's rather flamboyant as Canadians go - but this is really funny.

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One of the most wired astronauts in the history of space travel, Cmdr. Chris Hadfield, and a fellow Canadian, actor and make-believe starship captain William Shatner, had a Twitter exchange today that excited nerds across the globe.

Hadfield is well known for his consistent coverage of his workplace (space) and frequent Twitpics of his home (Earth) on social media. Shatner, best known for playing the 24th century Capt. James T. Kirk inStar Trek, was inspired to ask him, “Are you tweeting from space?

“Yes,” replied Hadfield, “Standard Orbit, Captain. And we’re detecting signs of life on the surface.” As of this writing, that tweet had more than 3,100 retweets and 1,900 favorites, and climbing.

Later Hadfield tweeted about this gem from the CSA's Chris Hadfield World Tour Photo Challenge:

This was all cool enough, even for those who aren’t full-tilt, nonstop nerd bombs. (Let’s not even talk about how the maple leaf patches on the commander’s space suit Twitter avatar evoke Dr. McKay’s insignia on Atlantis.) But then, the Canadian Space Agencygot involved, inviting Shatner to the agency to chat with Hadfield live from space. "We'd love to show you around,” said the agency via its Twitter account.

After finding out Hadfield will be in space until May, Shatner replied, “I can't make any promises but I will see what I can do.”

Should Shatner make his way to CSA headquarters in near Montreal, Quebec, and live chat with Hadfield, nerds the world over will collapse in fits of glee.