Wake-up Song for NASA Space Shuttle STS-31 Hubble Space Telescope Deployment Mission April 1990

Space Is Our World © 1990 Danny Kristensen and Bruce Moody.  All Rights Reserved.

In 1990, Private Numbers wrote an original “wake-up” song that was uplinked to the Space Shuttle crew of STS-31 on the morning they deployed the Hubble Space Telescope.  The song, entitled Space Is Our World, used the music track from the group’s song Is This My World? but with revised lyrics to complement the occasion.  Before the mission, I typed up the lyrics on a pink sheet of paper and it was flown on the mission.  A few weeks after the mission, I received it back signed by the entire crew! 

Bill Todd, my friend and JSC flight-training teacher, gave us the chance to be a small part of this mission.  On a few occasions, Bill gave me VIP treatment in the Space Shuttle SST Simulator where I “flew” the Space Shuttle!  

I was also able to introduce my daughter to some of the STS-31 astronauts while they were training at the Johnson Space Center before their mission. My daughter asked astronaut Kathy Sullivan, who was standing outside of the simulator with fellow crewmembers Steve Hawley and Bruce McCandless in their orange flight suits, "Where are you going?" Sullivan pointed a single finger up in the air and said "Up there!", to which my daughter said, "Can I come too?" Boy, was Papa proud!!  

Below is a short "Before, During & (Just) After" documentary of the events surrounding "Space Is Our World". We were so fortunate to be able to express our heartfelt support for space exploration through our music!  

It was during this time that I first met Original Seven Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter. Carpenter was just a delightful guy who was very inquisitive about music and the recording process. Every time I asked him a question about his Aurora 7 spaceflight, he answered and then asked me a question about the multi-track recording process!  I got to know Scott very well over the next twenty-two years before his death and I still miss him to this day.  

Scott was one of the founders of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation and he played an integral role in guiding the Foundation over the last three decades.  I attended numerous events and galas in New York and Cocoa Beach at the Kennedy Space Center over the years hanging out with him and almost all of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts.  I am still a patron of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, whose mission is to aid the United States in retaining its world leadership in technology and innovation by supporting the very best and brightest scholars in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics while commemorating the legacy of America's pioneering astronauts.  

As part of their 2015 Space Rendezvous event "The 25th Anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope", the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation asked me if I would provide a video of the wake-up song my band Private Numbers performed for the Space Shuttle crew of STS-31 back in April of 1990 on the morning they deployed the Hubble Space Telescope.  What an honor!  We were all proud, happy and thrilled to participate in this historic event!  Below, you can see the video the astronauts played at the 25th Anniversary event.

"Space Is Our World" documentary - April 1990

"The 25th Anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope" - November 9, 2015

Space Flight Insider news story about the 25th anniversary event

 

Space Is Our World © 1990 Danny Kristensen and Bruce Moody.  All Rights Reserved.