In keeping with a 60-year tradition, NASA played music for the Artemis II crew as they journeyed around the moon. As the first human-led moon mission since Apollo 17 in 1972, Artemis has drawn a lot of attention at home and abroad. Now that the astronauts are on their journey home, NASA has shared some lighter aspects of space travel.
To wake the astronauts, NASA Mission Control has a curated playlist of songs. Tracks are picked by the crew, NASA, or by astronauts’ families. Occasionally, there are messages from home, usually recorded by celebrities or important figures. For example, Robin Williams recorded a message for the Discovery crew in 1988, quoting his famous lines from Good Morning, Vietnam.
The Artemis II playlist, however, is a thoroughly modern reminder of home. Currently, there are eight songs on the playlist, which NASA released on Spotify. As the crew makes their way back to Earth, there will no doubt be more songs added to the playlist.
So far there’s Young & Sick’s “Sleepyhead”, John Legend and André 3000’s “Green Light”, Freddy Jones Band’s “In a Daydream”, Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club”, CeeLo Green’s “Working Class Heroes (Work)”, Mandisa and TobyMac’s “Good Morning”, Glass Animals and Denzel Curry’s “Tokyo Drifting”, and Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure.”
Why Does NASA Play Music for the Astronauts?
NASA has played music for shuttle crews as a wake-up call for more than 60 years. The practice began in 1965, when they played “Hello Dolly” for the Gemini VI crew. But the wake-up calls serve more than just as a fun way for mission crews to curate a playlist. They also provide a much-needed connection to something familiar while traveling through the unknown of space. Additionally, it’s a way to distinguish the days.
Colin Fries, NASA historian, wrote a chronology of the wake-up calls in 2015, tracing the practice back through the decades. Some records were missing, and it’s unclear whether missions like Apollo 11 had wake-up calls or if the details were lost to time. But the existing logs show hits from Frank Sinatra, The Sound of Music, and the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey during the Apollo missions.
On space shuttle Columbia’s second flight in 1981, Jim Henson and Co. recorded a personal wake-up call for the crew. “Pigs in Space” consisted of two comedy routines featuring the crew of The Swinetrek, Captain Link Hogthrob, First Mate Piggy, and Dr. Julius Strangepork, who appeared on The Muppet Show. As the Columbia mission’s capsule communicator (CAPCOM) at the time, Sally Ride arranged the whole thing.
“You play some lively, peppy bit of music—normally just two minutes of it—and after a pause, you hear some groggy voice on the microphone mumbling, ‘Good morning, Houston,’” said Colonel Chris Hadfield in 2000, during his time as NASA chief CAPCOM.
Usually, the music choices are benign, as Mission Control tries to play it safe. There’s no need to shock someone out of bed in the middle of space by playing Rob Zombie, for example. “You don’t want to play a dirge or something uninspiring,” said Hadfield. “You want to get them going in the morning.”
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