Commander Chris Hadfield performs “Space Oddity” in the International Space Station
By Hugo Vera
On May 12th, 2013 Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield became famous following the publicizing of a viral video of him recording his own version of David Bowie’s classic song “Space Oddity.” This is officially the first full-length music video recorded in outer space. Hadfield recorded the entire video himself with a professionally recorded soundtrack from earth and his own guitar. Hadfield shot the five and a half minute long music video onboard the International Space Station during the Canadian Space Association’s most recent visit to space, known as Expedition 35. Expedition 35 lasted for two months and Commander Hadfield was in charge of leading his engineering team to maintain and preserve the I.S.S. for later visits. Hadfield and the rest of the Expedition 35 crew left the I.S.S. in a landing capsule on May 13th. The day before, Hadfield performed his rendition of “Space Oddity” as a way to say farewell to outer space for the time being.
Hadfield has received both fame and criticism for making his music video during a crucial space mission. For the most part, he has received praise by NASA, the Canadian Space Association, and even David Bowie commended Commander Hadfield on his excellent singing. Commander Chris Hadfield is now the first musician from outer space.
Chris Hadfield’s rendition of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” can be seen on YouTube under the channel name “Chris Hadfield”.
