Astronaut Chris Hadfield to Release First Album Recorded in Space

[PatrickJS]

Astronaut Chris Hadfield to Release First Album Recorded in Space

Having achieved astronomical success with his in-orbit cover of David Bowie's 'Space Oddity,' Chris Hadfield prepares to release an entire album of songs recorded in space.

It was, perhaps, only a matter of time. Chris Hadfield, former commander of the International Space Station, is about to release his debut solo album full of music recorded in orbit.

Have a listen to an original track below:


For the astronaut, musician, Canadian and popular space hype man [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123453-This-is-What-Happens-When-You-Wring-a-Washcloth-in-Space], 'Space Sessions: Songs From a Tin Can' was just an extension of his mission.

"To me, this is a continuation of my best efforts to share the experience, to the best of my ability," Hadfield told the Globe and Mail [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/about-to-launch-album-debut-chris-hadfield-talks-recording-music-in-space/article25872987/]. "I am just as delighted with this as I am with any photograph I took or any other verbal description I've ever had of that magnificent experience."

Hadfield spent 166 days on board the space station, and recorded songs in his free time. The best place to record was in his sleep pod, with a microphone attached to his iPad. He had just his Larrivee Parlor acoustic guitar; studio musicians were brought in down on Earth to back him up on for the album.

It isn't easy being a rock star out there. "There's no gravity to pull the fluid out of your head... so you always have a full head and swollen tongue and vocal cords."

"Almost always, the guitar slips in your hands. If you're a guitar player, I tell people to try playing while standing on your head."

Just before his departure from the space station, Chris recorded a cover of The video was to be taken down a year from when it went up [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123942-ISS-Commander-Bids-Farewell-With-Space-Oddity], but apparently a deal was struck - not only does the video remain on Youtube, but Hadfield's version will be the centerpiece to the record.

We are rapidly running out of "firsts" for space. First record, first porno [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.880781-On-Tonights-Menu-The-First-Salad-Grown-in-Outer-Space] - what's left? Specifically, what's left for me?

Source: Globe and Mail [http://chrishadfield.ca/music/]

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[Lufia Erim]

First person born in space. What nationality are they going to have? Hell the popularity that baby will have will make him/her rich for their entire life. Although i doubt that woulf happen for a couple of decades. I'm no biologist but i don't think a baby would survive their first trip to earth.

 

[PatrickJS]

First person born in space. What nationality are they going to have?

Oh, that's a good one. Definitely the biggest remaining "first." I'm sure someone out there is researching how to deliver a baby in microgravity

 

[happyninja42]

First person born in space. What nationality are they going to have?

Oh, that's a good one. Definitely the biggest remaining "first." I'm sure someone out there is researching how to deliver a baby in microgravity

I would suspect it would be similar to delivering a baby underwater. People do that all the time. Of course the fluid issues would be a problem, and messy. I bet they would probably build an apparatus, hooked to the framework for the woman to slide into and strap in. It would probably have some kind of splash guard, to try and contain the fluids. Actually, now that I think about it, they might make it like a containment facility for dangerous materials, with glove sleeves for the doctor to manipulate things to help the delivery. It would contain all the blood and poop in the box, possibly with some form of air circulation to pull the stuff to one side, and then have a release top for once the child is out. I could see that working fairly well.

 

[PatrickJS]

Snip

That's a lot of good, messy points - it's got me thinking about a more general topic, though: any medical procedures in space. IV drips wouldn't work without gravity, unless I'm mistaken; surgery would probably require a containment device like the one you talked about, but I'm having trouble even picture it. Would you be relying on the surface tension of blood to keep it from just floating out of the person you're taking the appendix out of? And for that matter, do they only send people without appendices into space?

 

[happyninja42]

Snip

That's a lot of good, messy points - it's got me thinking about a more general topic, though: any medical procedures in space. IV drips wouldn't work without gravity, unless I'm mistaken; surgery would probably require a containment device like the one you talked about, but I'm having trouble even picture it. Would you be relying on the surface tension of blood to keep it from just floating out of the person you're taking the appendix out of? And for that matter, do they only send people without appendices into space?

Your asking questions I'm not really qualified to answer. I was simply doing some armchair theorizing on how to deliver a baby in space, but I'll try and take a crack at the others.

IV drips: Yeah that's an issue, although does the capillary effect still work in space? If so, that might work to be able to transfer fluids to a patient, albeit slowly. Or they might just employ some low pressure pump to provide the fluid motion?

Surgery: Yeah, that's going to be tricky. I mean they already use suction a lot to keep the surgery area clean of debris for the surgeon, so that might work by itself. Considering the use of robotic surgery these days, I could see that working in space too. Strap the patient down firmly in place, and have the wall mounted surgical machines start working. If the patient has an oxygen mask, the debris wouldn't be that much of a hindrance perhaps, and you could have it be "this room will get messy when we do surgery, and that's just something we will have to clean up at the end." Design the room with this in mind, and it might not be too big of an issue.

As to the basic design of the 'delivery box' I theorized. It would basically be a small box shaped aparatus that would fit over the patient. For the delivery thing, I sort of pictured a chair like device the woman could sit down in, that would close around her chest/stomach/lower portion. Her upper torso and head would be in the open air, so she could breath and communicate, but everything south of the border would be in the containment box to keep the goop from flying all over the place. Obviously, it would still be floating around in the box, but it wouldn't be floating around freely in the entire room. It would either be made of clear material, or have viewports for the doctors. I think a clear material would probably be best, so they could see everything.

Now the surgery thing would be different, and again, I'm not a doctor, or a medical engineer so I'm not sure if this design is feasible, but it would be some kind of sliding containment device over the surgery table. It wouldn't cover the entire body, only the area in question for the surgery. It would have sides that would come down snugly against the patient, to contain the surgery area. It would have holes in the side, with glove sleeves for the doctor to put his hands through, so he could touch the patient as needed. Again, robotic surgery might be more ideal for this, as you could not worry about this device, and just keep the patients oxygen clear with a mask, and let the fluids fly wherever in the operating theater, then clean up later. I would still think that suction would be important, to keep fluids from drifting to other parts of the body, causing infection, but that's an issue with simple surgery today in 1G environments, so suction might be all you need to resolve that.

If you want a mental image, look up pictures of an iron lung device, and just imagine the patient with their head out of the device, but the rest of their body (or most of it), inside the device. Put some holes in the side for the doctors to mess around inside, and you've got a basic idea for the design I'm thinking of.

 

[PatrickJS]

Your asking questions I'm not really qualified to answer. I was simply doing some armchair theorizing on how to deliver a baby in space, but I'll try and take a crack at the others.

Hey, no worries about that - I'm not expecting to find a rocket scientist/OBGYN, I just find this stuff pretty interesting to talk about. Love the theories, though!