Chris Hadfield and students from coast-to-coast fill the sky with music (excerpt)

Uploaded on May 7, 2013

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Chris Hadfield and students from coast-to-coast fill the sky with music (excerpt)

2013-05-08 - For his last downlink before returning to Earth, CSA Astronaut Chris Hadfield performed I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing) with hundreds of students at the Ontario Science Centre and nearly a million people, mostly students from coast-to-coast Canada and around the world, performing the song in unison from their location.

CSA Astronaut Jeremy Hansen was present at the history-making Music Monday event at the Science Centre and moderated a Q&A with students and Commander Hadfield.

I.S.S. is a song co-written by Hadfield and the Barenaked Ladies' front man Ed Robertson. (Credits: Canadian Space Agency, NASA)

Chris Hadfield: I think this is the very first Canada-wide simultaneous space to Earth participatory broadcast like this. The very first time anything like this has been done right across the whole nation so I’m really, really pleased to be part of it.

Holly Nimmons: Thank you Chris. You can also send your videos and photos to musicmonday.ca. So Chris, are you ready to make some more history? Would you like to sing your song?

Chris Hadfield: Yes, Holly. I’m listening. If everybody is ready, I’ll get set up. Hope everybody has been practicing and everybody is ready to sing "Is Somebody Singing". Let me get set up and we’ll get started. Everybody set? Here we go! 1-2-3-4.

(Song)

CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen: We really, really appreciate you taking the time out today. We know you have a busy schedule. We really enjoyed this. This was awesome. And if you can maybe just give us a few more words from space, close out and maybe do one of your astronaut space tricks, it would be awesome. There you go!

Chris Hadfield: Well, to the people at the Canadian Space Agency, you do something right on the edge of magic, allowing Canadians not only to be here in person like my case or the other astronauts like Jeremy or the folks that have been up here before, but for so many people to participate. The people who have been following and watching the videos, and the words and the images coming down from here and organizing an event like today where, where the exploration of the universe around our planet becomes part of everybody’s life. And not just the science. The science is important, but also the humanity of it, the beauty of it, the wonder of it, the perspective it gives to us, and the music that goes along with it. Those things are what make exploration worthwhile, because of what they bring back to us all. So thank you Jeremy for being there today. Of course Holly and the Coalition for Music Education, thank you so much for setting this up and for giving so many Canadians this opportunity for being together today. The people at the Canadian Space Agency, we all owe them a great deal of thanks for making this happen today. And everybody who participated today, right across the country, if you humed a note, if you sang the words, if you were leading the orchestra, this was a fun thing to be part of. So thank you everybody, happy Music Monday, and yes, somebody is singing.

Holly Nimmons: Chris, thank you very much. Now everyone, get your cameras ready. Let’s send a big Canadian wave and fill the skies with joyful thanks to Commander Chris Hadfield for reflecting our world to us, for sharing his mission. Safe return to home, Chris!

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