Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bolga Bam here. When you're an
Speaker 1: astronaut aboard the International Space Station or I S S,
Speaker 1: every part of your daily routine automatically becomes interesting, whether
Speaker 1: it's going to the bathroom or watching TV. That same
Speaker 1: logic applies to one of human kind's oldest passions music.
Speaker 1: Retired Canadian Space Agency or c S, A astronaut and
Speaker 1: I s S veteran Chris Hadfield has said that when
Speaker 1: you break into song in the Final Frontier, it can
Speaker 1: sound a little bit nasal. He told Great Britain's five
Speaker 1: News in interview, it's a little weird because you're congested.
Speaker 1: Your scienus is never drained properly. Not that he let
Speaker 1: that stop him. Had Field caused a musical sensation in
Speaker 1: by covering David Bowie's Space Oddity on the I S S.
Speaker 1: Collaborating with his Earthbound son, Hadfield put together a music
Speaker 1: video filming the entire performance. The late Bowie himself described
Speaker 1: it as quote possibly the most poignant version of the
Speaker 1: song ever created. It even included instrumentation. Hadfield had an
Speaker 1: acoustic guitar at his disposal. The instrument had been a
Speaker 1: fixture on the space station since two thousand one, when
Speaker 1: NASA sent it there. To give you some context, the
Speaker 1: first is S segment was launched into orbit on November
Speaker 1: twentieth of nineteen ninety eight, and for almost as long
Speaker 1: as there's been an International Space station there have been
Speaker 1: astronauts playing music on board, but the historical president goes
Speaker 1: back way before that. Gemini astronauts Walter Cherra and Thomas
Speaker 1: Stafford played jingle bells in space on December fifteenth of
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty five, using some bells and a harmonica that
Speaker 1: they had taken along for the trip. Musical instruments have
Speaker 1: from the very beginning served as IOSS morale boost sters
Speaker 1: as well. Before NASA's Carl Waltz made his debut on
Speaker 1: the station in two thousand one, he said it would
Speaker 1: be nice to take a keyboard up there. He got
Speaker 1: his wish, but certain adjustments had to be made. Whenever
Speaker 1: Waltz played his keys, he kept himself grounded with foot restraints. Also,
Speaker 1: he had wind a bungee cord around his legs to
Speaker 1: hold the instrument in place. A fellow i S S
Speaker 1: a loom Katie Coleman arrived on the vessel for mission
Speaker 1: with a penny whistle and three flutes in tow. One
Speaker 1: was temporarily lost when an alarm sounded, forcing Coleman to
Speaker 1: release the instrument mid song, but don't worry, she had
Speaker 1: an easy time finding it. Later, Coleman told m I
Speaker 1: t I very much like to play music with other people,
Speaker 1: and I didn't happen to get assigned to a crew
Speaker 1: where anybody else really played music. However, she got to
Speaker 1: join Jethro toulls Ian Anderson for a Space Earth duet
Speaker 1: during the spring of two thousand eleven. Each musician played
Speaker 1: a segment of box Beret in e minor. Anderson recorded
Speaker 1: his performance in Russia, Coleman filmed hers in low Earth orbit.
Speaker 1: Footage from both was later combined and posted online. Besides
Speaker 1: the instruments we've already mentioned, I s S astronauts have
Speaker 1: made music with saxophones, bagpipes, and even a didgery do
Speaker 1: during their flights. Of course, safety is a top priority
Speaker 1: at NASA and aboard the International Space Station. Beneficial as
Speaker 1: they are from a mental health perspective, instruments can't be
Speaker 1: allowed to put a cruise well being at risk. NASA
Speaker 1: Space Station manager Mike Pedley said in a two thousand
Speaker 1: three interview, we test some of them by putting a
Speaker 1: piece of the material into a closed chamber and heating
Speaker 1: it to as much as a hundred and twenty greece
Speaker 1: fahrenheit or forty nine degrees celsius for three days. Such
Speaker 1: tests can reveal a lot about potential safety hazards. One
Speaker 1: component that has to be examined is the alcohol that
Speaker 1: instrument manufacturers often use as a cleaning solvent. Hedley noted
Speaker 1: something like benzene is relatively toxic, and it would only
Speaker 1: take a small amount to make the hardware unacceptable. That's
Speaker 1: why the guitar Hatfield played was built with non flammable
Speaker 1: material and lacked benzine altogether. Now we're just guessing here,
Speaker 1: but since nobody likes floating debris in their workspace, Pete
Speaker 1: Townsend style guitar smashing is probably a big no no.
Speaker 1: On the I S S, Save That Stuff or Earth.
Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article Astronauts love to
Speaker 1: Rock it Out in Space on how Stuff works dot com,
Speaker 1: written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart
Speaker 1: Radio in partnership with how Stuff works dot com and
Speaker 1: it is produced by Tyler Playing. Four more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my Heart Radio. Visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.