RTE's Ryan Tubridy captured the mood of the country tonight as his heart melted when Toy Show hero Adam King met his hero Chris Hadfield.
Tubs was on the verge of tears – as were viewers around the country – as six-year-old Adam spoke to NASA's Chris on tonight's Late Late Show.
Adam met Chris alongside his brothers and sisters, with siblings crowding into the video call for a heartwarming conversation with the famous astronaut.
He asked Chris: "Were you afraid on your first space mission?" – one of a number of amazing questions in a gorgeous conversation between the pair.
"You've got your whole life to get ready," Chris responded, in a beautiful reply.
The space-obsessed six-year-old from Cork told Tubridy that he wants to work in ground control at NASA when he grows up.
Adam told Ireland's largest TV audience that he can't be an astronaut because he has brittle bones.
Cmdr Hadfield said: "It has been really nice to see and have a little more direct contact with Adam and his family.
"We need that combination of both the unstoppable curiosity but also the willingness to put in the work to back it up. It's great to see an example like Adam."
The youngster from Youghal was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, a condition which causes brittle bone and stunted growth which can make him prone to fractures.
The pair were patched through to each other via videolink and Adam shared details of his missions to the "moon and other planets" with his siblings.
He went on to ask Cmdr Hadfield if he was afraid on his first mission.
The astronaut said: "When I was six years old I was afraid because I didn't know everything that I needed to know yet, but I changed who I was, Adam.
"I studied and I read books and I watched movies and I talked to people who knew what they were doing, and I practiced, just like you are practicing, over and over again.
"On the day that I was going to space, I walked up and over the elevator and I lay down in the rocket on my back, even though it was a dangerous thing because I knew what I was doing, I wasn't afraid because I was ready.
"I'd much rather be ready than afraid, and you have got your whole life to get ready."
Cmdr Hadfield told Adam about his experience of being a CAPCOM or capsule communicator at NASA.
He said: "Capcom is a fascinating job, you are right in the thick of it, it's like a mystery, solving things constantly.
"You have to rely on your own skill and the skill of the people around you.
"That type of environment, it seems to me that he (Adam) might thrive in.
"Maybe more importantly now it inspires him to pursue things that otherwise he might never have felt the freedom to pursue and that may be just as important. "Sure, he will end up doing something superb with his life, but the process and the inspiration I think is so important and that's part of the reflection that I really like to see also."
Tubs spoke to Adam from his home in Cork with dad David and siblings by his side.
Adam revealed his fellow school pupils gave him a guard of honour after his Toy Show appearance.
