Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Monday praised the safe return to Earth by Chris Hadfield after a five-month mission as the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station.

"It is with immense pride today that Canada welcomes our very own space pioneer Chris Hadfield back to Earth," Harper said in a statement. "Chris has done an absolutely remarkable job as the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station."

He said Hadfield's effective use of social media brought the miracle of space travel to the entire world. More than 830,000 people worldwide have been following the commander on Twitter.

Harper appreciated the many firsts accomplished by Hadfield, including dropping a hockey puck from space for the Toronto Maple Leafs' home opener against the Buffalo Sabres and leading thousands of school children in a sing-along on his guitar.

"While in space, he also answered numerous questions from Canadian students across the country via video conferences, one of which I had the pleasure of attending in Ottawa this past March," Harper said.

The prime minister said Hadfield's tireless, unique efforts to educate the world about the final frontier came in addition to his duties as commander of the space station.

Hadfield, 53, along with American Tom Marshburn and Russian Roman Romanenko, both flight engineers, landed on Earth aboard a Soyuz capsule in Kazakhstan at 10:31 p.m. ET (0331 GMT Tuesday) to end their 146-day space mission.