A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
As the Artemis II astronauts make their way around the moon, the folks back at ground control are having a little fun with how they wake up the crew each day.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SLEEPYHEAD")
YOUNG AND SICK: (Singing) Sleepyhead.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
This is "Sleepyhead" by an artist who goes by the name Young & Sick. It was the crew's first wakeup call of the mission. A few Earth days later, it was this hit by Chappell Roan.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PINK PONY CLUB")
CHAPPELL ROAN: (Singing) I can hear your Southern drawl a thousand miles away, saying, God, what have you done?
MARTÍNEZ: "Pink Pony Club" was a wakeup song this weekend, but apparently the recording cut off after a minute or so. Ground control could hear that commander Reid Wiseman was audibly disappointed.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
REID WISEMAN: We were all eagerly awaiting the chorus.
MARTÍNEZ: Don't worry, Commander. We got you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PINK PONY CLUB")
CHAPPELL ROAN: (Singing) Pink Pony Club.
A MARTÍNEZ AND CHAPPELL ROAN: (Singing) I'm going to keep on dancing at the Pink Pony Club.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PINK PONY CLUB")
CHAPPELL ROAN: (Singing) Pink Pony Club.
FADEL: NASA has been playing music to wake up astronauts since 1965.
BRIAN ODOM: I think it really was just a way to get everybody on track or to just remind people of home.
FADEL: That's NASA's chief historian, Brian Odom. He says music can be chosen by ground control or even by astronauts' families.
MARTÍNEZ: Over the years, NASA augmented the music with specially recorded messages from celebrities. He remembers one great moment from 1988.
ODOM: Good morning, Discovery from Robin Williams. His "Good Morning, Vietnam" movie was out.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ROBIN WILLIAMS: Good morning, Discovery. Good morning, Discovery. Rise and shine, boys. Time to start doing that shuttle shuffle. You know what I mean? Hey, here's a little song coming from the billions of us to the five of you. Rick, start them off, baby. The Haukster (ph) to you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
ODOM: You know, people kind of forget that that mission was the first mission since the Challenger accident. So it was the first wakeup call. So to really kind of lighten the mood, almost.
FADEL: The mood appears to be very light aboard the Artemis II. They've heard an uplifting message from the late Jim Lovell so far, and songs by John Legend and CeeLo Green, among others.
ODOM: So in a moment when they feel further away than they've ever felt, they can be connected to family, they can be connected to culture. They can be connected back home in ways that only really music has a way to do.
MARTÍNEZ: The crew of Artemis II is scheduled to keep waking up to music until they come back to Earth on Friday.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WORKING CLASS HEROES (WORK)")
CEELO GREEN: (Rapping) Get up. Get out. Go get that money. It's time to work. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
