Music on board space flights

Is this a reality? Or do our spacenauts just go up there silent?
What kind of communication goes on between them? After we disconnect from c-span.
People like me would be interested I predict..

I'm sure they are allowed personal music devices....mp3 players most likely. Also, they are awoken every morning with music from mission control.

science.nasa.gov...

The people that work in space seem to really enjoy their music.
I don't think anything like that scene in the Star Trek movie First Contact is happening during the accent to orbit, I'm sure they are paying attention to ground control on their helmet head sets.
( I wish I could remember the name of the song from the movie, when they blast off on the first warp flight and meet the Vulcans at the end ??? )

But these guys even have musical instruments aboard the ISS and on shuttle missions, and they get to sit around and play when time permits.

Astronaut Ellen Ochoa, a classical musician, brought her flute as one of her personal items on her first shuttle flight. She only got to play it once, though, and that was as part of an educational video for school kids. On short shuttle flights, she explains, astronauts are so busy that they really don't have much time to play an instrument. "For a shuttle flight, it's probably more of a sentimental thing, a memento for people who have had music as a serious hobby."

But on long duration stints onboard the station, "you do have a fair amount of free time," says Walz, "especially on Sundays." There's more opportunity to take out an instrument and play.

An electronic keyboard, for instance, might be a source of electromagnetic radiation capable of interfering with the operation of the shuttle or station. Such items can usually be modified, explains Pedley. The type of casing makes a difference: something in a metal case generally doesn't emit much radiation; in a plastic case, it emits more. Usually, he says, it's possible to change one or two components in a way that reduces the radiation without affecting the function.

Wooden instruments like guitars raise another concern: they're flammable. These things are allowed to go up only if astronauts agree to handle them with care and stow them while not in use.

These folks are rockin' around the world.....................


They also get the latest movie releases sent up to them from time to time, and I think they got to watch the latest Harry Potter video the first day it was released. (but don't quote me on that.)

They probably have a pretty good music library on the station by now.

In his Oral History, U.S. Mir astronaut Andy Thomas discusses recreational activities onboard Mir.

Thomas says that it's largely up to the crewmember to make sure he or she has good acitivities planned. "I think the big lesson from that is, if you're going to do a long-duration flight like this, the crewperson does have to have a personal recreation device at his disposal which is something he or she really derives a personal benefit from.

"NASA can provide tapes and videos and CDs and things like that, but the crewperson needs to think about what they really need for themselves for that time, ... such as a hobby to take with them ... because it's really important that you have good recreation [in order to] ... psychologically remove you from the environment, so that you can have productive times during your work, just like here on Earth."
spaceflight.nasa.gov...

Here's a shot of a party going on in space..................



And I've heard they can even have a little vodka once in a while, complements of the Russian crew members.
But if your flying around a planet at over 17,000 miles per hour, I figure it's not a good idea to drink too much and drive. :shk:
You might collide with a family of vacationing aliens, and that would be bad for interstellar relations..

At one point the crew of Mir was running an illegal still aboard their station, and Mission Control ordered them to shut it down.

According to an intercepted communication, the Mission Control has demanded that the cosmonauts aboard the Mir get rid of the liquor-brewing still illegally installed aboard by one of the previous crews.

It is the presence of the still, maintains a program official who would not be identified, that forced the recent shutdown of the main computer. "While the Russians are highly ingenious with brewing devices, they have not found ways to successfully integrate them in the electronic environment."
theshredder.com...

Music, booze, men and women away from home.....
You do the math.

[edit on 5/7/2006 by anxietydisorder]

Something by James Taylor (or am I watching too much of The Simpsons:lol

FATMAN