Find out the last song ever used by NASA to awaken astronauts aboard an orbiting space shuttle.
A Kate Smith rendition of "God Bless America" was followed by a historical greeting from astronaut and mission CAPCOM Shannon Lucid as the final wake-up call for a space shuttle crew. The complete wake-up call playlist for STS-135 included:
- Day 2 "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay
- Day 3 "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra
- Day 4 "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba
- Day 5 "More" by Matthew West
- Day 6 "Rocket Man" by Elton John
- Day 7 "Man on the Moon" a cappella version by Michael Stipe
- Day 8 "Good Day Sunshine" by The Beatles
- Day 9 "Run the World (Girls)" by Beyonce
- Day 10 "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang
- Day 11 "Days Go By" by Keith Urban
- Day 12 "Don't Panic" by Coldplay
- Day 13 "Fanfare for the Common Man" by Aaron Copland
- Day 14 "God Bless America" by Kate Smith
While such human touches will forever have a place in manned spaceflight, the final chapter of musical accompaniment for shuttle astronauts is worth its own moment's pause (if only to note that Coldplay somehow got two spots on the final shuttle playlist, while the likes of The Beatles and Elton John only merited one apiece).
That's not just a sonorous send-off for shuttle spaceflight, it's a momentously melodious mark-point for manned orbital Geek Trivia.
