Music in space

{{Short description|Music from a spacecraft in outer space}}

File:ISS27 Catherine Coleman plays a flute.jpg astronaut Catherine Coleman plays a flute aboard the International Space Station in 2011.]]

Music in space is music played in or broadcast from a spacecraft in outer space.{{cite web|url=http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/Plan_your_visit/exhibitions/cosmonauts/life-in-space/tuned-in-music-of-the-soviet-space-programme|publisher=sciencemuseum.org.uk|title=Tuned in: music of the Soviet space programme|accessdate=November 4, 2016}}{{Failed verification|reason=Article says nothing at all about unmanned missions.|date=November 2016}} The first ever song that was performed in space was a Ukrainian song “Watching the sky...[https://www.youtube.com/embed/QjBUl1BkNZc Anatoly Solovyanenko. I am watching the sky and imagining a thought. Why am I not a falcon? Why can't I fly? Why, God, did you not give me wings?I would leave the earth and fly to the sky"](“Дивлюсь я на небо”) sung on 12 August 1962 by Pavlo Popovych, cosmonaut from Ukraine at a special request of Serhiy Korolyov, Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer from Ukraine. According to the Smithsonian Institution, the first musical instruments played in outer space were an 8-note Hohner "Little Lady" harmonica and a handful of small bells carried by American astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas P. Stafford aboard Gemini 6A.{{cite web|last1=Edwards|first1=Owen|title=The Day Two Astronauts Said They Saw a UFO Wearing a Red Suit|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/day-two-astronauts-said-they-saw-ufo-santa-suit-109444898/|website=Smithsonian Magazine|publisher=The Smithsonian Institution|accessdate=June 23, 2017|language=en|date=2005}} Upon achieving a space rendezvous in Earth orbit with their sister ship Gemini 7 in December 1965, Schirra and Stafford played a rendition of "Jingle Bells" over the radio after jokingly claiming to have seen an unidentified flying object piloted by Santa Claus. The instruments had been smuggled on-board without NASA's knowledge, leading Mission Control director Elliot See to exclaim "You're too much" to Schirra after the song. The harmonica was donated to the Smithsonian by Schirra in 1967, with his note that it "...plays quite well".{{cite web|url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/harmonica-gemini-6|title=Harmonica, Gemini 6|date=20 March 2016|publisher=|access-date=4 November 2016|archive-date=14 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814091810/https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/harmonica-gemini-6|url-status=dead}}

In the 1970s music tape cassettes were brought to the American space station Skylab,{{Cite web |url=http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/skylab-everything-you-need-to-know.html |title=Everything You Need to Know About Skylab | Astronotes |access-date=2016-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161214152234/http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/skylab-everything-you-need-to-know.html |archive-date=2016-12-14 |url-status=dead }} while Soviet cosmonauts Aleksandr Laveikin and Yuri Romanenko brought a guitar to the space station Mir in 1987. Musical instruments must be checked for gases they may emit before being taken aboard the confined environment of a space station.{{cite web|url=http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/04sep_music/|title=Space Station Music|work=NASA Science News|publisher=NASA|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026163708/http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/04sep_music/|archivedate=October 26, 2011|url-status=dead|date=September 4, 2003}} As of 2003, instruments that have been aboard the International Space Station include a flute, a keyboard, a guitar, a saxophone, and a didgeridoo.

Music in space has been a focal point of public relation events of various human spaceflight programs. NASA astronaut Carl Walz played a rendition of the Elvis Presley song "Heartbreak Hotel" aboard the ISS in 2003 which was also recorded and transmitted to Earth. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield, commander of Expedition 35 to the International Space Station, recorded a music video of the song "Space Oddity" by David Bowie aboard the space station. The first music video ever shot in space,{{cite web|url=http://io9.com/chris-hadfield-sings-space-oddity-in-the-first-music-503764317|last=Davis|first=Lauren|title=Chris Hadfield sings "Space Oddity" in the first music video in space|date=12 May 2013|publisher=Gawker Media|accessdate=29 May 2013}} the video went viral and received widespread international media coverage after being posted to YouTube.{{Cite news|last=Knapp|first=Alex|title=Astronaut Chris Hadfield Sings David Bowie As He Departs The International Space Station|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2013/05/13/astronaut-chris-hadfield-sings-david-bowie-as-he-departs-the-international-space-station/|newspaper=Forbes|date=13 May 2013|accessdate=29 May 2013}} Bowie himself later called the cover "possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created".{{cite news|author=Andrew Griffin |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/david-bowie-how-chris-hadfield-space-oddity-cover-from-orbit-was-helped-by-the-real-starman-a6805586.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/david-bowie-how-chris-hadfield-space-oddity-cover-from-orbit-was-helped-by-the-real-starman-a6805586.html |archive-date=2022-06-18 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=David Bowie: How Chris Hadfield's 'Space Oddity' cover from orbit was helped by the 'Starman' |newspaper=The Independent |date= |accessdate=2016-10-02}} Hadfield also recorded his own album titled Space Sessions: Songs from a Tin Can.{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Molly |date=2015 |title=From 'Space Oddity' to 'Songs in a Tin Can': Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield records first album in space |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2015/from-space-oddity-to-songs-in-a-tin-can-canadian-astronaut-chris-hadfield-records-first-album-in-space/ }}

Dongfanghong I

{{see also|Dong Fang Hong I}}

Dongfanghong I ({{zh|s=东方红一号|t=東方紅一號|p=Dōngfānghóng Yīhào|l=The East is Red 1}}) was the People's Republic of China's first space satellite, launched successfully on 24 April 1970 as part of the PRC's Dongfanghong space satellite program. The satellite carried a radio transmitter which broadcast the song of the same name, Dōngfānghóng or "The East Is Red"; the broadcast lasted for 20 days while in orbit.

Apollo 17

{{see also|Apollo 17}}

A few bars of "The Fountain in the Park" were sung on the Moon by NASA Astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan on the 1972 Apollo 17 mission, the final Apollo moon mission. Schmitt started by singing "I was strolling on the Moon one day..." after which Cernan joined in. Cernan kept with the original "merry month of May", however, while Schmitt sang "December", which was the actual date at the time. Cernan interjected, "No, May!", and Schmitt corrected himself. Schmitt resumed, singing "When much to my surprise, a pair of bonny eyes..." until he could no longer remember the lyrics and began vocalizing the notes instead.{{Cite AV media |url=https://history.msfc.nasa.gov/saturn_apollo/videos.html |title=Astronauts Strolling on Moon and Singing |date=December 1972 |type=Videotape |publisher=NASA |access-date=2018-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221170629/https://history.msfc.nasa.gov/saturn_apollo/videos.html |archive-date=2016-12-21 |url-status=dead }} Moments later, Capsule Communicator Robert A. Parker cut in from Houston, punningly saying that "sorry, guys, but today may be December."{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

Voyager Golden Record

{{main article|Contents of the Voyager Golden Record}}

File:The Sounds of Earth - GPN-2000-001976.jpg

The Voyager program probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were launched by NASA with a message aboard — a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of the world of humans on Earth.{{Cite web|url=http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/goldenrec.html|title=Voyager – Golden Record|publisher=NASA|accessdate= September 23, 2010}}

{{quote|This is a present from a small, distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. |President Jimmy Carter}}

The records feature spoken greetings in fifty-nine languages,{{cite book|last=Sagan|first=Carl|authorlink=Carl Sagan|title=Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space|edition=1st|year=1994|publisher=Random House|location=New York|isbn=9780679438410}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5wilptDhk4#t=186s|title=Traveller's Tales [Carl Sagan Tribute Series, S01E16]|website=YouTube |accessdate=February 10, 2012}} "sounds of Earth",{{Cite web|url=http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/sounds.html|title=Voyager – Spacecraft – Golden Record – Sounds of Earth|accessdate=August 17, 2008|publisher=NASA}} and a 90-minute selection of music from many cultures, including Eastern and Western classics.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ozmarecords.com/voyager|title=Voyager|last=ozmarecords|website=ozmarecords|access-date=2018-04-12}}

Soyuz TM-3 and Didier Marouani

On 22 July 1987, Soyuz TM-3 was the third crewed spaceflight to visit the Soviet space station Mir. The cosmonauts took a CD-player with them, together with two small speakers and the Space Opera album by French composer Didier Marouani. According to Marouani, the CD, the player and speakers were launched into outer space in October 1987. Cosmonaut Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov confirmed that he listened to the album during his mission on Mir. {{cite web |last1=Atagong |first1=Felix |title=Pink Floyd. Still First in Space. NOT! |url=http://atagong.com/iggy/archives/2014/02/pink-floyd-still-first-in-space-not.html |website=The Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit |access-date=3 August 2023}}

Soyuz TM-7 and Pink Floyd

On 21 November 1988, a cassette tape of Pink Floyd's live Delicate Sound of Thunder album (minus the cassette box, for weight reasons) was taken into space by the crew of the Soviet Soyuz TM-7 mission.{{Cite book| edition = | publisher = Omnibus Press | isbn = 0711941092 | last = Miles | first = Barry |author2=Andy Mabbett | title = Pink Floyd the visual documentary | location = London | year = 1994}} The launch, at Baikonur Cosmodrome, was attended by the band's David Gilmour and Nick Mason, who made an audio recording of the event for potential use in a future project. This was claimed by Gilmour to have been the first rock music recording in space. In actuality, various cassettes carried by Al Worden on Apollo 15 nearly two decades earlier contained recordings from multiple various rock artists.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNBp1kaLhEkC&pg=PA91|title=HSA Space Exploration and Aviation Auction Catalog #6000|date=1 February 2008|publisher=Heritage Capital Corporation|isbn=9781599672274}} The tape was left on the Mir space station when the mission crew returned to Earth.

''Beagle 2'' and Blur

In 2003 the British space organization's Beagle 2 probe was scheduled to play a song from the British rock band Blur, upon touchdown on the planet Mars.{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/1/16/7555809/beagle-2-blur-melody-mars|publisher=theverge.com|title=Listen to the music that the Beagle 2 probably played on Mars in 2003 - The Verge|date=16 January 2015 |accessdate=November 4, 2016}} It was not known what happened to Beagle 2 for 11 years after landing, and it was considered lost. When it was found intact in 2015, however, the possibility was raised that Beagle 2 had successfully played the song on Christmas Day in 2003 upon landing, but failed to transmit back to Earth.{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/1/16/7555809/beagle-2-blur-melody-mars|title=Listen to the music that the Beagle 2 probably played on Mars in 2003|first=James|last=Vincent|date=16 January 2015|publisher=}} The song, also called "Beagle 2", was composed for the project and had been issued as the B-side of the band's 1999 "No Distance Left to Run" single prior to the launch.

''Curiosity'' and will.i.am

{{main article|Reach for the Stars (will.i.am song)}}

American recording artist will.i.am wrote, produced, and recorded the song "Reach for the Stars"{{Citation|title=Reach For the Stars by will.i.am|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/willpower-deluxe/1442258237?i=1442260037|language=en-us|access-date=2019-11-30}} (and their instrumental-driven version subtitled "Mars Edition" and "NASA Edition"{{Citation|title=Reach for the Stars (Mars Edition) - Single by will.i.am|url=https://music.apple.com/gb/album/reach-for-the-stars-mars-edition-single/1444619683|language=en-gb|access-date=2019-11-30}}) in commemoration of the landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars. The song was first released on August 28, 2012, and it became the first song that was successfully broadcast from another planet.{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/29/us/mars-single/index.html?hpt=hp_c2 |title=Will.i.am premieres song -- from Mars |publisher=CNN |date=August 29, 2012 |accessdate=January 25, 2014 |last=Karimi |first=Faith}}

Chris Hadfield's ''Space Sessions: Songs from a Tin Can''

During his time on the International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield recorded twelve songs. One was a recording of David Bowie's Space Oddity, ten were originals by him, and "Beyond the Terra" was written by him and his son.{{Cite web |date=2015-09-30 |title='Songs from a Tin Can': Chris Hadfield releasing album recorded in space |url=http://canadaam.ctvnews.ca/songs-from-a-tin-can-chris-hadfield-releasing-album-recorded-in-space-1.2588011 |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=CTVNews |language=en}} He released the album as Space Sessions: Songs from a Tin Can in 2015.

Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster

File:Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster (40110297852).jpg

{{main|Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster}}

Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster was launched into Earth orbit, then Solar orbit, in February 2018 as part of the Falcon Heavy Test Flight. The sound system on board the car was looping David Bowie's songs "Space Oddity" and "Life on Mars?".{{cite magazine|title=SpaceX Successfully Launches the Falcon Heavy—And Elon Musk's Roadster|url=https://www.wired.com/story/spacex-successfully-launches-the-falcon-heavyand-elon-musks-roadster/|magazine=WIRED|accessdate=7 February 2018}}{{failed verification|reason=article doesn't indicate soundsystem played this on a loop; it is a bit vague about source of music|date=December 2023}}

''Project DaVinci'' and Taylor Swift

{{Main|1989 (Taylor Swift album)}}

As a part of NASA's ElaNa 19 initiative, 18 year-old millionaire Erik Finman collaborated with a team of high school students from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and designed a CubeSat named Project DaVinci.{{Cite web|last=Buhr|first=Sarah|date=August 17, 2017|title=Teen bitcoin millionaire Erik Finman is launching Taylor Swift's '1989' into space|url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/17/teen-bitcoin-millionaire-erik-finman-is-launching-taylor-swifts-1989-into-space/|access-date=2020-07-05|website=TechCrunch|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Heiney|first=Anna|date=December 10, 2018|title=ELaNa 19: DaVinci|url=http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/elana-19-davinci|access-date=July 5, 2020|website=NASA}} The CubeSat serves as a time capsule orbiting around the Earth, and contains a collection of videos, music and movies, including Taylor Swift's 2014 album, 1989. The album was uploaded to the satellite, while its Swift-autographed CD was engraved to the satellite's side.{{Cite web|last=Hooper|first=Ben|date=December 14, 2016|title=Idaho teen team's space-bound time capsule includes Taylor Swift album|url=https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2016/12/14/Idaho-teen-teams-space-bound-time-capsule-includes-Taylor-Swift-album/8801481736814/|access-date=2020-07-05|website=UPI|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Weinberger|first=Matt|date=August 17, 2017|title=This teenage Bitcoin millionaire high school dropout is sending a signed Taylor Swift CD into space|url=https://www.businessinsider.in/this-teenage-bitcoin-millionaire-high-school-dropout-is-sending-a-signed-taylor-swift-cd-into-space/articleshow/60105703.cms|access-date=July 5, 2020|website=Business Insider}} DaVinci was launched into space on December 16, 2018, from Mahia, New Zealand.{{Cite web|last=Mahoney|first=Erin|date=3 July 2016|title=Past ElaNa CubeSat Launches|url=http://www.nasa.gov/content/past-elana-cubesat-launches|access-date=July 5, 2020|website=NASA}}

ISS and Coldplay

{{main article|Higher Power (Coldplay song)}}

On 7 May 2021, British rock band Coldplay premiered their new single "Higher Power" from the International Space Station by having French European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet preview the song via a branded "extraterrestrial transmission".{{Cite web|last=Speck|first=Emilee|date=2021-05-07|title=European astronaut Thomas Pesquet premieres Coldplay's new song from space|url=https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/05/07/european-astronaut-thomas-pesquet-premieres-cold-plays-new-song-from-space/|access-date=2021-10-23|website=WKMG|language=en}} The album from which the song originates, Music of the Spheres, is a space-themed concept album.{{Cite news|last=Richardson|first=Mark|date=2021-10-18|title=Coldplay's 'Music of the Spheres' Review: An Over-the-Top Cosmic Lovefest|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/music-of-the-spheres-review-an-over-the-top-cosmic-lovefest-coldplay-chris-martin-selena-gomez-we-are-king-max-martin-higher-power-parachutes-everyday-life-11634588857|access-date=2021-10-23|issn=0099-9660}}

Danuri

{{main|Danuri|Dynamite (BTS song)}}

To test the experimental system of the “space Internet”, Danuri (Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter) successfully forwarded a number of photos taken, as well as several video files, including, BTS“Dynamite” from outer space to Earth at Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT, Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) on 7 November 2022.{{cite web | url=https://universemagazine.com/en/south-korean-orbiter-sent-a-music-video-of-the-bts-group-to-earth/ | title=The South Korean probe "Danuri" sent a music video of the BTS group | date=17 November 2022 }}{{Citation |title=우주에서 보내온 BTS 다이너마이트 뮤직비디오ㅣ다누리 우주 인터넷 탑재체 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4i6DtdqsQs |language=en |access-date=2022-12-18}}

Hakuto-R

Hakuto-R houses a payload, that is, a music disc featuring the song ‘SORATO’ by the Japanese rock band Sakanaction. The song was initially released in 2018 as a part of the Team Hakuto campaign for the Google Lunar XPRIZE.{{cite web | url=https://ispace-inc.com/news-en/?p=3939 | title=Ispace Announces Mission 1 Launch Date }}

SpaceX Polaris Dawn

On Friday, September 13, 2024, during the Polaris Dawn mission, SpaceX Engineer Sarah Gillis performed a violin solo from Rey's Theme from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Gillis was joined by young musicians around the world. The performance was used to raise money for El Sistema. {{cite web | url=https://elsistemausa.org/polaris-dawn-crewmember-performs-from-space-with-youth-musicians-around-the-world/ | title=Polaris Dawn Crewmember Performs from Space with Youth Musicians Around the World }}

References

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See also