I think a lot of us, at some point in our lives, have looked to the stars and wondered what it would be like to explore them. A much smaller number of us have followed up that dream and actually became astronauts. One such space adventurer, Luca Parmitano, shared his dream with the world with a live dance party from the International Space Station (ISS).
The live stream was piped to a cruise ship in the Mediterranean Sea where earthlings danced along to the first-ever deejay set from outer space.
Spinning from the Columbus Module European lab of the ISS, Parmitano expressed his desire for the world to have one common language and explains that music is a sort of common language that we all understand, no matter where we live.
Music is an amazing equalizer. Everybody enjoys music. Everybody wants to listen to music. Even if the music is different, everybody understands music and understands what that music is communicating.
Parmitano then yanks an iPad from his pant leg, where it's been anchored (because, you know, gravity), and starts playing some tunes for the cruise ship club goers to dance to. He's got Algoriddim's djay app up and running and sends his party mix some 408km to earth.
He gets about seven minutes of spinning in before having to end the set because the cruise ship will lose the signal of the Advanced Orbiting Systems (AOS) that the ISS is linked to.
Though Parmitano admits he's not an expert deejay, he wanted to go outside his comfort zone to share something with the world that he knows everyone can understand ... from outer space.
This was an opportunity for us all to share a common language. A common dream. Space is also a very common dream that joins people all over the world. This opportunity to unite science and music for people to enjoy their lives in a way that is common to everybody was just too good to pass and I hope this is a great opportunity for everybody to look around and enjoy the world the same way we do from up here at the International Space Station.
I love space exploration.
