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Consequence has one more burst of Space Week to go. Today, we’re presenting 10 songs selected by astronaut Eileen Collins, the first female commander of a space shuttle mission. See the full list below, and check out our ranking of the 30 Best Space Albums, 30 Best Space Movies, and 20 Best Space TV Shows.
Col. Eileen Collins didn’t listen to a lot of music during the 872 hours she spent in space during her career as a NASA astronaut. As the subject of the new documentary Spacewoman explains to Consequence, “the space shuttle flights were normally one to two weeks, and we were very busy. It seemed like we were always behind schedule. When I listen to music, I really get into it, so listening while I’m working doesn’t work.”
Spacewoman, directed by Hannah Berryman, reveals Collins’ journey to becoming the first female commander of a space shuttle mission, after attending the US Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base. Collins went to space four times before retiring from NASA in 2006, all while raising a family, and has received countless honors for her service and continued advocacy for space exploration.
Although Collins herself didn’t listen to much music while in space, she did bring cassette tapes with her on her first mission (it was 1995), including an album by country singer Clint Black. “When I came back, I mailed the tape to him, and I’m like, ‘Dear Clint Black, here’s one of your cassette tapes, and it flew in space.’ But I never heard back from him.” She did give her training team some of the other tapes she took up on that mission, to thank them for their years of hard work in preparing the team.
And music was still a part of daily life on the space shuttle, thanks to a tradition called “the wake-up song,” where the astronauts would be woken up each morning by a song selected by Mission Control. Astronauts could make requests for the wake-up song, but their family members and training team would be the ones to actually make the picks, and Mission Control liked to surprise them.
This meant that even though there was a list of “forbidden” songs, some would slip through — including “Come On Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners, a song Collins emphatically did not enjoy hearing. (Something she even nods to in Spacewoman.) Also, she says, “I don’t want to knock Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man,’ but it’s over-used. I wanted something different.”
Below, Collins reveals ten songs about space that inspire her, noting specific themes about space travel when applicable. Some she did listen to on missions. Some were songs she requested as wake-up music. None of them use her first name in the chorus.
“I wanted to pick songs that people could relate to,” she adds, “because a lot of times I see some peoples’ favorites list and I don’t recognize a single thing on it. They’re still good. It tells you a lot about what people like. But I’m hoping that people can relate to [The Beatles].”
One Republic — “Counting Stars”
That came out well after my astronaut days, but I have it here because it’s about setting priorities, and what’s important.
Listen to “Counting Stars” via Apple Music | Amazon Music | Qobuz
The Beatles — “Here Comes the Sun”
“Here Comes The Sun” was one of our wake-up songs. The theme for this one is Earth orbit, because in space you have a sunrise or a sunset every 45 minutes, because you go around the Earth once every 90 minutes.
Listen to “Here Comes the Sun” via Apple Music | Amazon Music | Qobuz
Israel Kamakawiwo’ole — “Over the Rainbow”
I picked this one because it’s about exploration, and wanting to go places you’ve never been before. And I just love Hawaiian music.
Listen to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” via Apple Music | Amazon Music
Frank Sinatra — “Fly Me to the Moon”
This one is so overused, but I have to put it on the list in honor of the Apollo astronauts, because that was their era, Frank Sinatra. Sometimes we play it at our reunions.
Listen to “Fly Me to the Moon” via Apple Music | Amazon Music | Qobuz
Peter Schilling — “Major Tom (Coming Home)”
There are a lot of different versions of “Major Tom.” I like any one of them, but the one I have written down here is Peter Schilling. That’s got a good do do do, do do… It’s got a really good beat to it. The theme I have for that one is “coming home.”
So that’s maybe a song you’d request on your last day in orbit.
Yeah, that was a great one.
Listen to “Major Tom (Coming Home)” via Apple Music | Amazon Music | Qobuz
Toto — “Africa”
The theme I have for that one is Earth observation, of looking back at the Earth from space. There’s just something kind of magical about that song, too. I used to play that when I was a C-141 pilot and we flew around the world.
Listen to “Africa” via Apple Music | Amazon Music | Qobuz
Bette Midler — “From A Distance”
“From a distance, the world looks blue and green”… So that one could be spacey, if you think of it.
Listen to “From A Distance” via Apple Music | Amazon Music | Qobuz
The Beach Boys — “I Get Around”
I just put astronaut travel for the theme on this one — I get around [the planet Earth].
That’s just a fun song to imagine listening to in space. And it’s fun and upbeat.
I like upbeat, too. I’m not into sad music. Especially if I want to get things done, I like to get my mind going a little bit faster than slower.
Listen to “I Get Around” via Apple Music | Amazon Music | Qobuz
Sara Evans — “Born To Fly”
This would be kind of a piloting theme, although she didn’t write it about pilots. That’s the way I see it: “You were born to fly?”
Listen to “Born To Fly” via Apple Music | Amazon Music | Qobuz
George Strait — “Amarillo By Morning”
So this has a backstory to it: The song isn’t really about space, it’s about Texas, but it was for Rick Husband, who died on Columbia. He was from Amarillo, Texas, so I asked for it as a wake-up song through my husband, to honor him and his hometown. And you know what? They played the entire song.
I remember they played it towards the end of our mission. It was STS-114, after most of the work was done, probably Flight Day 14. And then right afterwards, my crewmate Steve Robinson got on the radio and said, “We’re dedicating that song to Rick Husband and his family in Amarillo,” and he named a bunch of people in the family. I thought that was pretty neat.
Listen to “Amarillo By Morning” via Apple Music | Amazon Music | Qobuz
Spacewoman is in theaters now.
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