April 7, 2011

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Space rock: Vote for the new NASA wake-up song

By Mark Fischetti

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

Like most of us, NASA astronauts have to wake up and get to work—even when they're in space. So NASA is running a contest to select two new wake-up songs for the STS-134 shuttle crew when it's at the International Space Station. The winners will be announced and played during the next shuttle mission (NASA's second to last shuttle flight), set to launch on April 29.

NASA has asked for music suggestions before, but this time the public is voting for one song from a list of 10 finalists chosen by the agency among 1,350 entries. All the cuts are original compositions from independent songwriters. You can hear all 10 pieces on the voting page, and read a short paragraph about each singer-songwriter and what inspired him or her to write the song. Titles range from "Rocket Scientist" to "Spacing Out." The voting is open until launch day.

Let's hope the Endeavour astronauts like the winning tunes, especially if the songs get stuck in their heads. I wonder if zero gravity can help remedy that situation. 

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Image courtesy of NASA via Wikimedia Commons

Mark Fischetti was a senior editor at Scientific American for nearly 20 years and covered sustainability issues, including climate, environment, energy, and more. He assigned and edited feature articles and news by journalists and scientists and also wrote in those formats. He was founding managing editor of two spin-off magazines: Scientific American Mind and Scientific American Earth 3.0. His 2001 article “Drowning New Orleans” predicted the widespread disaster that a storm like Hurricane Katrina would impose on the city. Fischetti has written as a freelancer for the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Smithsonian and many other outlets. He co-authored the book Weaving the Web with Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, which tells the real story of how the Web was created. He also co-authored The New Killer Diseases with microbiologist Elinor Levy. Fischetti has a physics degree and has twice served as Attaway Fellow in Civic Culture at Centenary College of Louisiana, which awarded him an honorary doctorate. In 2021 he received the American Geophysical Union’s Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism. He has appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press, CNN, the History Channel, NPR News and many radio stations.

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