When David Bowie was 21, his singing career seemed like it was over just as it was getting started. On top of that, he and his girlfriend broke up. He was heartbroken, lonely, and feeling disconnected from meaning, from hope. So, he wrote the song “Space Oddity.” You know – it’s the “ground control to Major Tom”-song. It was released July 11, 1969. The record company rushed it so that it would come out just before the Apollo 11 astronauts walked on the moon.
A continent away lived a 9-year-old boy named Chris Hadfield. He was a normal kid, raised on a farm in Canada. But there was that one day that would change his life: July 20, 1969. He joined countless others all around the globe as they watched the moon landing. He was so inspired! He just knew that he wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up.
Looking back on that day is incredible. When John F. Kennedy challenged America to land on the moon and return home safely within a decade, no one took it for granted that we would succeed. It took an enormous commitment of money, resources, research, technical skill, and knowledge. The world watched with bated breath to see what would happen.
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David Bowie took his feelings of isolation and made them a song. Even though it wasn’t a groundbreaking hit right away, it has grown to be one of his most popular songs. It may well be one of his best, too. David Bowie felt alone, but he wasn’t alone in feeling alone. Countless people have heard something of themselves in that song that helped them make sense of life and feel a little less alone.
That 9-year-old Chris Hadfield grew up to be an engineer, a test pilot, and, one day, an astronaut. He flew “two Space Shuttle missions and also served as commander of the International Space Station.” He spent 166 days in outer space. Chris Hadfield knew that he was retiring after he finished his command on the International Space Station. To say goodbye, he made the first music video shot in outer space. He sang David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” More than 51 million people have watched the video online and found a connection to a whole new world.
Resources
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bowie
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Oddity
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hadfield -https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/historic-speeches/address-to-joint-session-of-congress-may-25-1961