The International Space Station crew, 220 miles above Earth, will receive a special live musical wakeup call from Paul McCartney Sunday during a first-ever concert linkup.
The wakeup will come from McCartney’s “US” Tour performance at the Anaheim, Calif., Arrowhead Pond. McCartney plans to play two songs, “Good Day Sunshine” and “English Tea,” for NASA Astronaut Bill McArthur and Russian Cosmonaut Valery Tokarev. This is the first time a live concert will be linked to a U.S. spacecraft.
The call will take place at 12:55 a.m. EST, Sunday, Nov. 13 (9:55 p.m. PST, Nov. 12) as the concert is nearing its end; and McArthur and Tokarev are awakening for the 44th day of their six month mission in space. It will be broadcast live on NASA TV, with video expected of McArthur and Tokarev and audio from both locations.
During his tour, McCartney has paid tribute to the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery’s STS-114 mission, a flight to the space station last summer. On Aug. 9, the Beatles’ classic “Good Day Sunshine” was played as a wakeup call for Discovery’s crew because of a favorable weather forecast for landing that morning.
“I was extremely proud to find out that one of my songs was played for the crew of Discovery this summer,” McCartney said. “In our concert we hope to repay the favor.” McCartney is nearing the end of his 11-week “US” tour.
“Since people were first awakened on the moon by mission control, wakeup songs have been a space tradition to brighten the crew’s day and get them off to a great start,” said astronaut Eileen Collins, who commanded Discovery. “We’re honored that Paul McCartney will be a part of this historic delivery of music for Bill and Valery. It will surely give them a big boost as they continue through their research mission.”
McArthur and Tokarev are the 12th crew of the station, which has had a continuous human presence for more than five years. The station has an internal volume larger than an average three-bedroom house and includes the most sophisticated space laboratory ever flown.
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