Compiled by Colin Fries, NASA History Division.
Use of music to awaken astronauts on space missions dates back at least to the Apollo Program, when astronauts returning from the Moon were serenaded by their colleagues in mission control with lyrics from popular songs that seemed appropriate to the occasion. The Apollo 15 crew, whose spacecraft was named “America,” (sic) [This was actually the name of the Apollo 17 command module] was awakened one morning with a segment of “The City of New Orleans” beginning with the lyrics, “Good morning America, how are you?” Several crews have awakened on their final day in space to Dean Martin’s popular song “Going Back to Houston.”
The common element of all these selections is that they promote a sense of camaraderie and esprit de corps among the astronauts and ground support personnel. That, in fact, is the sole reason for having wake-up music; and it is the reason that NASA management has neither attempted to dictate its content nor allowed outside interests to influence the process.From a letter from Lynn W. Heninger, Acting Assistant Administrator for Congressional Relations to Congressman Robert H. Michel – January 9, 1990
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