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Astronaut Chris Hadfield Performs Space Oddity On the ISS
An anonymous reader writes "With updated lyrics, commander of expedition 35 on the International Space Station, Chris Hadfield, sings Space Oddity on board the ISS. He's not Bowie, but he's pretty good."
That is all.
That seems like such a weird song to sing up there sitting in a tin can.
Bowie sorta updated the matter on Scary Monsters anyway.
ashes to ashes funk to funky
we know major tom's a junky
strung out on heaven's high
hitting an all time low
This is very cool but it is so well done that it looks less like one guys space video and more like a viral marketing effort from NASA...
Im ok with it because NASA needs to do whatever it can to recapture Americas attention and imagination and thus maybe we can get public support to make space a priority as it should have always remained.
Who knew that having that many lens flares was true to life?!
...he's Canadian.
And stop being so cynical. Sometimes stuff can be cool without being "viral marketing".
Attaboy Chris
you sounded great, A Canadian space rock and roller.Hey, if you ever wanted to try your hand at karaoke .. we are at the Wally, Donlands and OConnor in Toronto.
*grin* and have a safe trip back
Clive DaSilva Email: clive.dasilva@gmail.com Ubuntu 18.10 Kernel 4.18
Shut up, retard.
Here's to a safe return journey back to earth tomorrow.
Better known as 318230.
I know the ISS isn't considered a glamorous undertaking like a mars trip would be, but damn it is one impressive piece of hardware, and the most advanced thing we've built in space to date.
Hey great song and performed extremely well. I haven't followed the goings on at the ISS but this has certainly raised its profile with me; nice down-to-earth touch. Safe landing.
That was pretty good, but I really liked his joint work with Barenaked Ladies (he sings there also, even though Ed Roberts does most of the vocals) in a nice tribute to the ISS...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Most expensive music video ever.
Doughnuts all around, eh.
"National pride"? He's Canadian, you know. Which nation do you mean? Do you also know they don't work 24 hours per day? And on their off time, ISS astronauts still breathe? Of course, he did use up a lot of electrons saving the files and transmitting them to Earth, so I'll make sure NASA or the CSA reimburses you per Coulomb.
*** Phil Plait, aka The Bad Astronomer http://www.badastronomy.com
You are an idiot. The man is making space (geeky) real (taxpayers). Space is the future. Anyone with an actual personality is welcome up there. This is my new favorite astronaut. Neil Armstrong step aside. We need to get back. Did you see his other 50+ educational videos?
Always helps to have an interesting character as the public face, and I have certainly been following the news around ISS these last several months. Commander Hadfield, you are one interesting guy, good job, and have a safe trip home.
Bragging rights like "First Music Video in Space" don't come around every day!
... then we need to shut down this thing NOW! We seriously have NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF TREASURE than to record a music video? This is rediculous. Let's turn off the lights, lock the door on the way out and save that money for something more important. Don't give me this "national pride" or "scientific discover" B.S. If that stuff needs to get done, then F'ing do it and don't waste time singing in space. This is probably the most collossal waste of resources imaginable. How many resources were needed to scrub the air necessary for the singing? When you are in space, that stuff matters, A LOT! The first take wasn't the last take, that I know. Don't give me the "get kids into science" schtick either. Kids who are swayed by silly things like this, statistically don't end up any good at the math needed for real science anyway. I teach our "future engineers" in a top state university. Most can't even solve a triangle, let alone deal with any higher math. If you are swayed by this commercial, you don't have the chops to stick with an engineering career.
Humans, even astronauts, need downtime - If you want a human to be effective, then you can't fill 100% of their waking time with work.
> We seriously have NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF TREASURE than to record a music video?
Jesus dude, lighten up. If we took your activities performed at university over the course of 3 months, could we find anything that you did for 4 minutes that did not directly benefit the students you are teaching? Would it be fair to make a big spectacle and claim that we should lock the doors to your school and shut it down after giving it "millions of dollars worth of treasure" because you read an email from a loved one, or went to the bathroom, or ate lunch? Science is conducted by humans, and humans need to take a break from time to time. Just chill out already.
> This is probably the most collossal waste of resources imaginable.
Really? This is the most collossal waste of resources imaginable?
On top of everything else, learn how to use a spellchecker. Your spelling of "ridiculous" is ridiculous.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
This guy's near daily media appearances has certainly inspired many canadians including myself. I have watched many children sing along with his ISS song (not as good as david bowie, but its the thought that counts) and it really inspires. Hopefully helping lots of kids to think about becoming scientists, researchers and yes astronauts. Space can seem so dull sometimes, he really brings it to life.
I may not care for much patriotically these days, but hes really doing canada a service being so media savvy. I am not sure if american astronauts do so much singing, and perhaps its covered extensively by their local media and I just never hear about it. But he really could be one of a kind.
-
In an odd little coincidence, the first time I ever listened to the original version of this song was yesterday. What can I say, I don't listen to much music, not from that era (yes, yes, I'll get off your damn lawn now, old man).
I have now listened to the Commander Hadfield version more times than the original. And, while Bowie is undoubtedly more musically talented, there's something about Hadfield's version that makes it seem more... emotional? Real? Something like that. Whatever the reason is, I prefer it over the original.
Does everything need to be about money? Can we not do things for the sake of doing them?
Was that not the great driving force behind the space race? We may have done some science on the moon, but it was hardly worth the billions we spent. But it was worth it to go there, simply for the sake of going there.
That was brilliant.
Thanks
It's "Hallo space boy ..." From the man himself
https://twitter.com/DavidBowieReal
actually I take that back.
It was really pretty good. He looks so at home up there in micro-g.
I disagree.
America may have forgotten about the drive to build, explore, settle, create, but humanity hasn't. Space isn't sour grapes. It's hard, and settling it is going to be a lot harder. But it will happen.
I won't join Slashcott. OTOH, If Beta goes live, I just won't be back until it's fixed. Sorry Dice.
As has been put much more eloquently by others, the space race wasn't about climbing a mountain because it's there. It was about trying to prevent world war 3 (or at least postpone it significantly). As expensive as it was, it was better than all out nuclear war.
It was akin to challenging one's rival to a foot race instead of a boxing match. It was one of the most mature things national governments have ever done. (room remains for improvement)
I won't join Slashcott. OTOH, If Beta goes live, I just won't be back until it's fixed. Sorry Dice.
There I thought I was gonna see a sword swallowed or a nail into a sinus cavity..in SPACE! This folk music is no Oddity!
"Astronaut Chris Hadfiled Performs the Song Space Oddity"...FTFY
Why can't we go back to using jumpers to configure slot adapter cards? Why? I say!
Ground control to Major Tom! Your ammonia leaks, there's something wrong. Can you hear me Major Tom?
Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.
Isn't there a lag in communications?
The ISS orbits around 330km - 435 km above the earth (around 230 miles on average). That's less than the width of a single province in Canada!
If you look at various communication delays based on distance, and assume that during the performance the ISS was basically roughly over Canada or even the U.S, you can see that the delay would be substantially less than for most international phone calls! In fact calling from one major city to another in the same country probably has as much delay, and there's no discernible delay to the caller in that case (well if you aren't using Skype).
It just goes to show how there's not much up you have to go before you are in space.
Also one could imagine that if you were "super serious" and kind of nerdy about doing a performance (as both the commander and BNL would be), that you might also set up a synchronized metronome that really did clock off at exactly the same time at the two locations to help the performer on the ISS stay in sync. But I doubt that was needed, and for a performance it's probably far more valuable to be able to riff off how the other performers are playing.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
This is best performance of this song, I have ever heard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVT0RYEfLH8
Commander Hadfield is the most well known astronaut since Sally Ride -- and with this, he'll be right up there with Neil Armstrong. If this is viral marketing, then THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE SPACE PROGRAM NEEDS! Fun, excitement, exquisite beauty -- that's what Hadfield has been beaming back to Earth for the last five months. I've been following his facebook posts for the last couple months and I was genuinely concerned about the ammonia leak this week and his spacewalk, and so were millions of other people. How many "fans" will watch his live prime-time EDT re-entry tomorrow night after watching this video tonight? How many even bothered to watch the final Shuttle landing? This guy is a bona fide star and we who care about space exploration should be embracing him.
I'm not a big fan of Bowie but I still think this was very impressive and inspiring. ...
I'm wondering how hard it was for him to play guitar in the absence of gravity? I'll bet he had to anchor himself pretty solidly somehow
I mean, in the title. Really? The dude's in space. I think the least we can do for him is not space out on the spelling of his name.
"If you are an idealist it doesn't matter what you do or what goes on around you, because it isn't real anyway."-R.P.W.
For a moment there, I was wondering what kind of oddity he performed in space...
Let's punch it up a bit ...floating in my trash can ...planet Earth is blue, without oxy so are you
Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles ...on my warranty
And I think my spaceship knows, so it won't let me take a pee.
next?
Table-ized A.I.
Please learn something. About something.
Seriously, the chances are pretty good that if you learn anything about any field of human endeavor, you will find something that is part of a compelling rebuttal to your idiotic screed.
Starting point: Humans cannot productively "work" all of their waking hours. They have to do other things to remain sane and functional. Do you think we should intentionally have the space station be run by, and maintained by, people who are no longer sane and dangerously incompetent from overwork? No?
Then maybe they should relax and goof off sometimes.
My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
This would be ok on TMZ... someone beat the editor!
What? The fact that the guy should better die on ISS or else face the RIAA/BPI suit for unlicensed public performance (no matter David Bowie's prediction) isn't interesting enough for /.?
(grin)
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
It is clear by now that the space is extremely hostile environment for biological systems.
A robotized HD high-speed telescope-digital camera on the surface of the moon could provide nearly real time imagery of the whole Earth surface. It could be very useful for mapping Earth.
Satellite imagery is spotty. Satellites have unstable orbits. They contribute to the space junk issue.
Good maps of Earth can do a lot, a lot of good to our planet, - to reduce traffic pollution, to fight fires more effectively, and so on and so forth.
Robots are smaller than humans. They do not require tanks of oxygen. So the smaller more ecological rockets can be used.
I'm sure someone has been just as narrow sighted before... "How is the America the future? The future of what? It's an empty savage infested hell. It's good place to send those who disagree with our religious beliefs. That's it. America is the past, the Columbus Age is as dead as polytheism."
Please. Institutions are about as humorless and paranoid as it gets. I am surprised the mental health professionals at NASA didn't read the lyrics to that song and conclude that they had to remotely put this guy down.
...with a version of "Life on Mars?" and we'll talk.
He's not Bowie, but he's pretty good
OMG, you guys are a very tough crowd. To me he sang perfectly well!
The three martini lunch is dead?
Trolling is a art,
Dang. Triangles are a problem?
I'm calling Orkin.
DNFTT
If being on the ISS watching Earth go by didn't inspire you to creativity of various forms, then I'd say there's something immensely wrong with you.
But if you want to be more logical about it: for space science to continue, you need people to want to put money into it- it's not just about getting the kids to be engineers and scientists, you need to inspire people with control of money, be they the electorate, politicians or wealthy businessmen, or the people who one day may become so.
In regards supposed importance and needing to 'get done'- ultimately space research isn't important, if you define important as necessary. But neither was a lot of human innovation- in the grand scheme of things, we don't actually need to live in skyscrapers, we don't need to be able to travel thousands of kilometres in a day, we certainly don't need the internet, we don't need to have significant swathes of the population living into their eighth, ninth, tenth, even eleventh decades etc etc.
Wait, what?! They're allowed to sleep?! OUTRAGEOUS!
><));>
What's the point of putting humans in space if you can't be human there?
I think that's an autocorrect error. "Space is the past. The three Martian lunch is dead." Little known fact: the majority of astronauts were members of the NRA, and they went to space on a big game hunt. Aliens are extinct.
Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
Space hasn't ratified the Berne Convention.
Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
Capitalism? We haven't seen that on this planet for quite some time. Plenty of corporatism to go around though.
Why couldn't they push the envelope and record the music on the ISS too?
Bet it's a real pig to play without gravity! I have exactly the same capo as him... Shame I'm down here and not up there :) Beautiful video.
I think therefore I am... a Linux geek.
...on Mars.
Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
...people forget
Space hasn't ratified the Berne Convention.
This is why he's safe while still on ISS.
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
An astronaut and a rock star! Hope he doesn't try to run for Prime Minister next, that would be a downgrade.
... then we need to shut down this thing NOW! We seriously have NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF TREASURE than to record a music video? This is rediculous. Let's turn off the lights, lock the door on the way out and save that money for something more important. Don't give me this "national pride" or "scientific discover" B.S. If that stuff needs to get done, then F'ing do it and don't waste time singing in space. This is probably the most collossal waste of resources imaginable. How many resources were needed to scrub the air necessary for the singing? When you are in space, that stuff matters, A LOT! The first take wasn't the last take, that I know. Don't give me the "get kids into science" schtick either. Kids who are swayed by silly things like this, statistically don't end up any good at the math needed for real science anyway. I teach our "future engineers" in a top state university. Most can't even solve a triangle, let alone deal with any higher math. If you are swayed by this commercial, you don't have the chops to stick with an engineering career.
1) People need downtime.
2) They actually set a record for science utilization http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/05/12/hadfield-iss-returns-earth.html
I'm not a sappy emotional kind of guy, usually far from it, but that had me tearing up. He may not have the raw vocal talent that Bowie has, but he nailed it in every other respect. That's always been one of my favorite songs anyways, now even more so. I'm gonna have to see if I can get a copy somewhere.
If I sound stupid, it's not me talking....
Dang. Triangles are a problem?
They certainly turned out to be for the BBC.
Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
Well, I also teach "future engineers" in a university.
1) yeah, it's fricking expensive. But I can't think of a better testbed for engineering than rocketry and a space station. Harsh environment, demanding constraints, human safety factors, etc. It's the pinnacle of engineering. It's fair to question whether it is worth the money, but pushing the envelope this way is worthwhile to many people.
2) there's more to engineering and science than math. Of course they need that. It must be there and slackers need not apply. But if students (and humanity) don't have a motivation for doing things, don't create fun diversions from time-to-time, and don't allow themselves a bit of entertainment during their off-time, then they're going to have a pretty narrow and sad life. Even engineers need things other than engineering, and only a fool of an engineer would expect humans to have a 100% duty cycle.
3) if that's really your attitude, then I question your teaching aptitude.
Eventually, we will have to leave this marble if we, as a species, plan to outlive the predictable expiry date of our planet. Of course, the planned death occurs not for a few million years, but even if you're one of those that, not unlike politicians, think in service terms rather than generations, since we're treating this planet like we have another spare one for the time when (not if) this one becomes inhabitable, I'd say that yes, we should try to find out how and where to settle off planet.
I'd guess we have about a century left.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Very good and all, but who is Major Tarm?
Max.
Unlike most people posting tripe in here, I was 10 years old when Bowie released this - it was fantastic (and I also think the first music video?).
I am now 53, and this version is brilliant (and apt) - would I as a ten year old expect this to happen 43 years later? No way.
Brilliant stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P36xhtpw0Lg
Mustaches existed long before porn and Freddy Mercury. Open your minds.
I'm anarcho-libertarian, and even I think that's silly. If you want to argue that manned space missions are wasteful then fair enough, but in the meantime what's the guy supposed to do, never do anything recreational the whole time he's aboard? Jeez.
Or does it sound like they autotuned his voice?
the coolest astronaut ever. (And one heck of a good singer too).
Piss off, Eomer, and practice your Dr. McCoy impression someplace else!
With the exception of a five dollar bill, I'm pretty sure all of that money is still on Earth. Sure, we threw some raw materials together and launched them into orbit, and burned up some fuel to get there, but all of the money itself is still here.
Actually you can read about it on Wiki, but NASA tried this. Working them around the clock to try and maximize their time.
They more less revolted. The commander at the time basically just stopped answering the radio. Not much you can do about a strike in space! After that strict work protocols were put in space to allow for more downtime.
I wonder about "personal" items that were allowed up the gravity well... Do they bring them home, or leave them up there for the next batch of people to use like communal objects. Things like his big camera (I assume he would take his memory home), and guitar... I mean for what it costs to push them up, you would think they would leave everything behind. Although at the same time would they need to do spring cleaning to get rid of all the junk that might pile up if that was the case...
Inquiring minds want to know!
They should multitask - use them to test exciting new stimulants by keeping them awake, and get more work out of the deal!
It is fitting that you posted as an anonymous COWARD! Otherwise we might want to take a look at how much of your time is wasted. Given how much you are paid to teach future engineers and you can't get them to solve a triangle in 2 minutes, i suspect you are a poor excuse for a teacher at a state university. Since the state's residents taxes are paying your salary, i suggest they take a close look at how many weekends, holidays, and other downtime that you get paid for.
...he's a Colonel, not a Major, and his name is Chris, not Tom.
Space is the future. Anyone with an actual personality is welcome up there.
And even if it fails for humanity, we can use the space for lawyers.
Space hasn't ratified the Berne Convention.
That's because it's pre-empted by the Bene Gesserit Convention: The Space Must Flow
(otherwise, how can the spice?)
These are both special cases of the Tao of the Cybernetician: Everything Flows
It's a Universal Truth even at a quantum level: Information that does not flow is useless.
Ergo: Copyrights are retarding and wrong.
I don't think you can top this. Or at least that anyone will for the foreseeable future... ;-)
Well prepared on earth, very well performed in space and as far as I can judge from the audio: Chris Hadfield is a pretty good singer as well !
Tnx, nice surpice!
Space is the past, the Space Age is as dead as bell bottom pants and the three martini lunch.
Aw, crap! I just bought another 3 pairs. Guess I'll just go drown my sorrows ...
Obviously nobody sent him the memo where Canadian scientists and public servants have to get approval for talking to the media or even giving evidence to members of Parliament. All these pictures and videos - oh boy is he ever going to get it when he gets back to CSA HQ.
A most excellent and well-considered reply! Well done, AC! Your students, unlike OP's, are very obviously lucky to have you!
There's one more point: if scientists and engineers wall themselves off from the rest of humanity, there will be little future support for scientific and engineering endeavors. Chris Hadfield has blown the wall wide open.
-- a Ph.D. & P.Eng.
Woah. Bravo, AC. Everybody's rebutting that troll's diatribe, but you nailed it in one sentence.
+1 Disagree
Four is the new three.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SobQQWTmfbA
They don't use a commercial satellite, they use TDRSS (Tracking Data Relay Satellite System), which are in geo. There's three places where TDRS satellites are TDRS E (over Atlantic) and TDRS W (over Pacific) relay to White Sands near Las Cruces NM. The data goes from there through JSC to Marshall Spaceflight Center where the Ops center is, and then out to the various places it needs to go. There's another set of satellites on the other side of the earth that downlink through Guam, but the "pipe" from there is pretty thin.
A "pass" for a given TDRS is about 30-40 minutes long (out of a 90-100 minute orbit), and they can do a fairly quick handoff from TDRS W to TDRS E, but you DO have to repoint the Ku-band high gain antenna on ISS, so there's a typical gap of a few minutes while it slews from pointing behind (to W) to ahead (to E).
WHy not track from the ground? Coverage. You'd need a lot of stations because ISS is in a low, low orbit. The maximum diameter of the footprint is only about 1500 miles. Imagine tiling the earth with enough stations to cover all the places ISS might be (50+ degree inclination means you'd need to essentially blanket the earth from 40N to 40S, including some mid ocean ships, etc. ) Those ground stations would also need to have pretty fast moving antennas: a typical overhead pass of ISS (see http://www.heavens-above.com/) lasts only about 9-10 minutes so you're looking at slew rates of 20 degrees/minute, which is quite fast for a big dish.
Doppler is no big deal.. For S-band (2 GHz) it's about 40kHz max, and easily predicted and tracked. For Ku band at 13 and 15 GHz, it's about 300 kHz.
Predicts for pointing are actually kind of difficult. ISS, unlike most LEO satellites, varies its height a lot.. it has a lot of drag, and they move it around which changes the drag. You need to know pretty much in real time where it is, rather than relying on orbital elements from yesterday. If your antenna has a beam width of 1 degree, you need to know the position within a few tens of km or, another way, the time when it will be somewhere within a few seconds. And don't forget, until you have that position and velocity, you can't point your antenna accurately enough to get the information from ISS itself. Pointing from GEO is a LOT easier, because the angular rate is much lower.
Ergo: Copyrights are retarding and wrong.
Ban copyright tomorrow, and I'll go looking for an office job. I'm not going to dedicate a year to perfecting the (hopefully) ground-breaking piece of software I've been fiddling with for years if I can't sell it....
Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
(To clarify: yes, I'll keep working on it, but I've made virtually no progress trying to do it in my spare time, and I need to sit down and dedicate myself to it for a solid chunk of time in order to really work my way through the biggest conceptual problems. Going full-time dev is a massive gamble, and it relies on the possibility of a big payoff at the end of it.)
Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
Come on, this is about a guy plying a song on a guitar. This is nothing more than gossip. Where is the science?
Tomorrow is another day...