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  • 6
    Jun
    2011
    9:28pm, EDT

    U2 concert adds a space surprise

    MSNBC's Rachel Maddow shares video of astronaut Mark Kelly delivering a message from space.

    By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

    The 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.

    6 comments

    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

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Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

Science editor at msnbc.com, author of "The Case for Pluto," winner of the National Academies Communication Award for Cosmic Log in 2008. Alan Boyle covers the physical sciences, anthropology, technological innovation and space science and exploration for msnbc.com. Check out Cosmic Log's archives by following the links below, and see Boyle's full biography at http://bit.ly/boyle-bio

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The Case for Pluto
Alan Boyle's first book tells the story of Pluto's ups and downs as well as the discoveries of other dwarf planets in our own solar system and even more alien worlds beyond. Buy "The Case for Pluto" ...

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