Paul McCartney Sings To Space Crew
Former Beatles Performs First-Ever Concert To The Space Station
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Play CBS Video Video McCartney Sings For Astronauts For the first time ever, Sir Paul McCartney, gave a live musical wake-up call to NASA astronaut Bill McArthur and Russian Cosmonaut Valery Tokarev, as he performed live from Anaheim, Calif.
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Paul McCartney performs at the Arrowhead Pond, in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, Nov. 12, 2005. (AP Photo/The Los Angeles Times, Christine Cotter) (*No Credit)
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Interactive The Beatles Follow The Fab Four from 1964, when Ed Sullivan introduced them to America, to Paul McCartney's 2002 wedding to Heather MIlls.
On Earth, former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney performed the hit and another song, "English Tea," on Saturday night before a cheering crowd as part of his 11-week "US" tour.
The performance was beamed from the West Coast to the space station crew 220 miles above Earth and broadcast on NASA television, which showed live feeds from space.
McArthur and Tokarev bobbed up and down and sipped from squeeze pouches through the show, getting a rousing cheer from the audience.
"I can't believe that we're actually transmitting to space!" McCartney said. "This is sensational. I love it."
McArthur, who did a couple flips, noted McCartney's creative achievements and thanked him for playing the songs.
"That was simply magnificent," McArthur said. "We consider you an explorer just as we are."
It is a tradition to wake astronauts up with recorded songs, but this marked the first time astronauts listened to live music from space.
The rock icon came up with the idea after learning that NASA's Mission Control used "Good Day Sunshine" to wake up the Space Shuttle Discovery astronauts in August with word that conditions were favorable to return to Earth.
The wake-up call marked the space station crew's 44th day of a planned six month mission in space.
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