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Subscribe to RSSThe Irish supergroup U2 added a little zero-G to its 360° Tour stop in Seattle over the weekend, but what do you expect for a show with a stage that looks like a four-legged spaceship? Bono started out the Earth-to-space exchange by dedicating the song "Beautiful Day" to wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, then mused over what "a man looking down on us from 200 miles up" might say. That was a lead-in to the video recorded by Endeavour commander Mark Kelly (who came back to our beautiful crowded planet last week). Kelly dished out greetings to Seattle concertgoers from the International Space Station. "These people are heroes," Bono said. Then Kelly ended his clip with a quote from David Bowie's "Space Oddity": "Tell my wife I love her very much. ... She knows." The spotlight was tossed back to the band, which launched into "Beautiful Day." The tribute tickled Team Giffords, which is handling the congresswoman's convalescence in Houston. "We agree with Bono," the team wrote in a Facebook update today. "Gabrielle and Mark are heroes."
More music from space:
- Contest winners join space playlist
- Discovery gets a 'Star Trek' send-off
- Wake up like an astronaut
- Flute duet spans Earth and space
- NASA beams Beatles tune to the stars
- Paul McCartney plays live to space crew
- Top 10 antics in outer space
While we're talking about spacey music, check out the Cosmic Log theme song, written by yours truly and performed by "rocker scientist" James Emley.
You can connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. Also, give a look to "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Leave a Comment:
Will U2 be "poverty whoring" in space now? Way to go Bono! Send me an autographed iPod when you get there!
Too bad Rachel and her staff used an outdated press hand out from U2 and failed to do a basic fact check. The huge NBC News enterprise and all the people that wrote and produced the segment and allowed Rachel to talk about Mark Kelly "live from space" during the Seattle concert and "who is up there right now" (huh????) didn't mention that the shuttle Endeavour landed early in the morning of 6/1 after an significantly successful mission to ISS. Hey, it was even in the papers last week.
That the U2 enterprise shamelessly embellished Commander Mark Kelly's previously taped tribute to his wife with video static and interference is so amateurish as to be laughable. Video from ISS and shuttle missions is in brilliant HD and seldom has breakup, itself an amazing feat of technology.
Hey Rachel, how about spending a few minutes on a true "best new thing" and get some real facts about ISS and the amazing 30 year shuttle program that will draw to a close next month. Keep up the good work but that was a glaring and disappointing error that needs correction. Will be watching.
Goes to show that our perception of space is rooted in the '60s. NASA marketing not working. Then again, NASA doesn't need marketing. It's us that need to learn more about NASA and not the other way around.
This is Beautiful,
Hey Doug...go back to FOX since we know they are the fact checking experts
Give me a break its frakken theater...the sentiment holds
All this basically tells us is... the Senator had it coming?