Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) usually spend their time maintaining the orbiting platform or performing experiments. Sometimes these activities can catch the attention of the general public, like Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield’s song. The ISS resident wrote the song with Barenaked Ladies’ Ed Robertson and the two will play the song together. At a later date the music will be played with the entire band and a children’s choir. The idea behind the song is to highlight the abilities of a transmission infrastructure that has been developed to synchronize a transmission that has a point of origin 600 kilometers away.
The song is called “I.S.S.” or Is Somebody Singing and is a pun on the International Space Station’s acronym ISS. The public will get to hear the space song on CBC’s Music Mondays in March. A repeat of the song will take place in May once the band and children’s choir have coordinated and practice the music.
The song was commissioned by CBCMusic.ca and The Coalition for Music Education.
Hadfield spoke to CBC News about the project and said, “I want to communicate the incredible experience of being in space—what it’s like to launch on a rocket and live on the International Space Station. But Ed and I think that the real satisfaction will come from performing this song with thousands of young people across Canada for Music Monday, connecting the Space Station to Earth through music.”
Hadfield went into space on Mir in 1995 and the ISS in 2001 and will be making his third trip on the ISS. He will also become the first Canadian to take charge of the ISS in 14 years as part of his six month stay in space.
Source: TechVibes
Photo: CBC