Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bolga Bam here. When you're an astronaut aboard the International Space Station or I S S, every part of your daily routine automatically becomes interesting, whether it's going to the bathroom or watching TV. That same logic applies to one of human kind's oldest passions music.
Retired Canadian Space Agency or c S, A astronaut and I s S veteran Chris Hadfield has said that when you break into song in the Final Frontier, it can sound a little bit nasal. He told Great Britain's five News in interview, it's a little weird because you're congested. Your scienus is never drained properly. Not that he let
that stop him. Had Field caused a musical sensation in by covering David Bowie's Space Oddity on the I S S. Collaborating with his Earthbound son, Hadfield put together a music video filming the entire performance. The late Bowie himself described it as quote possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created. It even included instrumentation. Hadfield had an acoustic guitar at his disposal. The instrument had been a fixture on the space station since two thousand one, when
NASA sent it there. To give you some context, the first is S segment was launched into orbit on November twentieth of nineteen ninety eight, and for almost as long as there's been an International Space station there have been astronauts playing music on board, but the historical president goes back way before that. Gemini astronauts Walter Cherra and Thomas Stafford played jingle bells in space on December fifteenth of nineteen sixty five, using some bells and a harmonica that
they had taken along for the trip. Musical instruments have from the very beginning served as IOSS morale boost sters as well. Before NASA's Carl Waltz made his debut on the station in two thousand one, he said it would be nice to take a keyboard up there. He got his wish, but certain adjustments had to be made. Whenever Waltz played his keys, he kept himself grounded with foot restraints. Also, he had wind a bungee cord around his legs to
hold the instrument in place. A fellow i S S a loom Katie Coleman arrived on the vessel for mission with a penny whistle and three flutes in tow. One was temporarily lost when an alarm sounded, forcing Coleman to release the instrument mid song, but don't worry, she had an easy time finding it. Later, Coleman told m I t I very much like to play music with other people, and I didn't happen to get assigned to a crew
where anybody else really played music. However, she got to join Jethro toulls Ian Anderson for a Space Earth duet during the spring of two thousand eleven. Each musician played a segment of box Beret in e minor. Anderson recorded his performance in Russia, Coleman filmed hers in low Earth orbit. Footage from both was later combined and posted online. Besides the instruments we've already mentioned, I s S astronauts have made music with saxophones, bagpipes, and even a didgery do
during their flights. Of course, safety is a top priority at NASA and aboard the International Space Station. Beneficial as they are from a mental health perspective, instruments can't be allowed to put a cruise well being at risk. NASA Space Station manager Mike Pedley said in a two thousand three interview, we test some of them by putting a piece of the material into a closed chamber and heating it to as much as a hundred and twenty greece
fahrenheit or forty nine degrees celsius for three days. Such tests can reveal a lot about potential safety hazards. One component that has to be examined is the alcohol that instrument manufacturers often use as a cleaning solvent. Hedley noted something like benzene is relatively toxic, and it would only take a small amount to make the hardware unacceptable. That's why the guitar Hatfield played was built with non flammable
material and lacked benzine altogether. Now we're just guessing here, but since nobody likes floating debris in their workspace, Pete Townsend style guitar smashing is probably a big no no. On the I S S, Save That Stuff or Earth. Today's episode is based on the article Astronauts love to Rock it Out in Space on how Stuff works dot com, written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio in partnership with how Stuff works dot com and
it is produced by Tyler Playing. Four more podcasts from my Heart Radio. Visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.