Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield covered David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” from the International Space Station, and the performance — posted by the frequently tweeting spaceman on Twitter — quickly began making the internet rounds.
Hadfield’s Bowie cover also was posted by the astronaut himself over on Reddit, where he started a thread in the subreddit r/music to announce that he’d fulfilled the request.
In his post, Hadfield said:
“A few months ago, you requested I record Space Oddity. From my last full day on board the International Space Station – I hope you enjoy it.”
The astronaut also cross-posted the pic to r/videos, where it received nearly 3,000 comments and more than 66,000 “upvotes” since it was uploaded 16 hours ago.
Since the clip of Hadfield’s “Space Oddity” cover hit, reaction on social media has been overwhelming — and within an hour, David Bowie himself had actually retweeted the astronaut’s original tweet.
In the thread, redditor Vithar commented poignantly on the impact of Hadfield’s Bowie cover, saying:
“For those of us interested in space, the imagery and music choice was spot on. The thing though, that really does it is that you know its real. Its not special affects. The floating guitar is really floating, its not some computer animation or trickery. The earth turning behind him in the windows is the real deal. Thats us, thats our blue dot, not some stock image, or animation, there she really is our home. The space suites behind him, they have taken people into the void. The video has none of the hollywood fakery we are used to. Its power comes from this authenticity.”
Bowie himself tweeted:
CHRIS HADFIELD SINGS SPACE ODDITY IN SPACE!”Hallo Spaceboy…”Commander Chris Hadfield, currently on… fb.me/24sZNW5ly
— David Bowie Official (@DavidBowieReal) May 12, 2013
Hadfield’s tweet and video:
With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here’s Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World. youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9d…
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) May 12, 2013
What did you think of Chris Hadfield’s David Bowie cover in space?
