Astronaut's 'Space Oddity' farewell

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has marked his upcoming departure from the International Space Station by singing a cover version of David Bowie's classic song Space Oddity recorded on the orbiting laboratory.

Hadfield, pictured, who became a global star during his half-year stint on the ISS with regular and sometimes quirky postings on Twitter, is due to touch down back on Earth early today.

The video of the Canadian spaceman crooning his way through the Bowie track has already become a huge hit on YouTube, with more than 500,000 views.

The video shows Hadfield singing with an impressively melodious voice as he floats through the station in the zero gravity with a guitar which he also plays with some aplomb.

"Ground control to Major Tom/ Lock your Soyuz hatch/ And put your helmet on," he sings, looking wistfully out into deep space through one of the portholes of the ISS.

"With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World," Hadfield wrote on Twitter to introduce the song.