Do you know what were the first musical instruments played in the space?
This photo of the Gemini VII spacecraft was taken through the hatch window of the Gemini VI-A spacecraft during rendezvous. Image: NASA, S65-63194 [7]
First, I tell you some about Geminis 6 and Geminis 7 missions. They were part of a Project Gemini, the second human spaceflight program with the next objectives[1][2]
- To demonstrate endurance of humans and equipment in spaceflight for extended periods, from least eight days to two weeks.
- To effect rendezvous and docking with another vehicle, and to maneuver the combined spacecraft.
- To demonstrate Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA), or space-"walks" outside the protection of the spacecraft, and to evaluate the astronauts' ability to perform tasks there.
- To perfect techniques of atmospheric reentry and touchdown at a pre-selected location on land
On October 25, 1965, Atlas-Agena target vehicle (ATV) was launched, but the Agena's primary engine fired , it caused the vehicle to explode. It would develop and practice orbital space rendezvous and docking techniques, and would perform large orbital changes. The Gemini 6 mission was meant to rendezvous and dock with the ATV, for this reason NASA, few years after, decided to cancelled Gemini 6 mission and fly the alternate Gemini 6A mission concurrently with Gemini 7, using the latter as the rendezvous target. The Gemini 7 was planned to be a long duration flight, investigating the effects of fourteen days in space on the human body, twice a long that anyone had been in space. [2][3]
Gemini was crewed by Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford, our main characters. On December 16, 1965, they reported to had sighted some sort of UFO. They said, calling Houston and Gemini 7:
“We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in polar orbit.... You just might let me pick up that thing.... ” [5]
They listened the sound of a tiny harmonica, accompanied by small sleigh bells, playing the a holiday tune, “Jingle Bells.” Schirra played the harmonica, while Stafford jingled the bells. It was the first musical interlude from space. Now, the harmonica and the bells are reside in a gallery on the second floor of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum [6].
Tom Stafford’s jingle bells and Wally Schirra’s harmonica.
And, there are more histories about music in the space. For example, commander Hadfield became the first ever music video performed in space, on board the International Space Station, in 2013.
References:
[1] "Gemini: Stepping Stone to the Moon". Gemini: Bridge to the Moon. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Archived from the original on 2015-01-04. Retrieved 2015-01-04.
[2]https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-was-gemini-program-58.html
3]https://web.archive.org/web/20150415034732/https://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov:80/kscpao/history/gemini.htm
[4]https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/tom-stafford%E2%80%99s-jingle-bells-and-wally-schirra%E2%80%99s-harmonica
[5]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmsOmqf7Hso
[6]https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/tom-stafford%E2%80%99s-jingle-bells-and-wally-schirra%E2%80%99s-harmonica
[7]https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/world%E2%80%99s-first-space-rendezvous
Post by: Alejandra Torres Manotas, Grupo Astro-K