When Paul McCartney was beamed live into space
As one of the surviving members of the most successful band of all time, Paul McCartney has enjoyed a life that has seen him do things that appear unobtainable to the rest of society. From breaking commercial records to getting up to hijinks with some of the best in the business, Macca’s story is an entertaining one, to say the least.
No matter the criticisms directed at sections of his work, it cannot be denied that McCartney has always used his position for good. Whether it be pledging his support to a myriad of charitable causes or giving advice to contemporary artists, McCartney has always lived by example, which has only strengthened the cultural potency of his oeuvre.
One of the most remarkable moments in his career came back in 2011 when McCartney woke up the crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis for their final mission alongside The Beatles’ favourite ‘Good Day Sunshine’ from the 1966 album Revolver.
The Atlantis crew of Chris Fergurson, Doug Hurley, Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim were all woken up first thing on flight day eight by McCartney with ‘Good Day Sunshine’, a fitting way to bring the curtain down on one of NASA’s longest-serving vehicles. It also came with a prerecorded message that congratulated the crew: “Good morning guys, wake up! And good luck on this, your last mission. Well done.”
Later, when speaking about the wakeup call for Atlantis, McCartney expressed: “I think it hit a chord with American audiences, because…well, they’re American, number one, and that’s their space shuttle going up there.”
Notably, this was not the first time the music of McCartney and The Beatles had been played for astronauts, with the track ‘Good Day Sunshine’ played for the Discovery crews of both STS-121 and STS-128.
After learning that ‘Good Day Sunshine’ was used to motivate the crew of STS-121, McCartney opted to take it a step further and treat the Expedition 12 crew aboard the International Space Station to a live musical awakening during the first-ever concert linkup in November 2005. In addition to The Beatles song, he also performed his solo cut ‘English Tea’ from that year’s Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, with both streamed from his show in Anaheim, California.
During the linkup, McCartney was astounded by what was happening, telling the crowd, “I can’t believe we’re actually transmitting to space”, as Bill McArthur performed a zero-g flip for the 17,000 concert-goers.
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