Wednesday April 8, 2026 | OFF-PLANET
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
It’s no soothing gentle wakeup.
The wakeup music for the Artemis II crew on board the Orion space capsule that they call Integrity has each day been fast-paced, bright and loud.
NASA says the four-member crew chose their own selection of wakeup music for the 10 days journey beyond Earth.
Crew members:
The Artemis II crew is comprised of American NASA astronauts Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut and mission specialist Col Jeremy Hansen.
Queen and Bowie:
Today’s wakeup was at 8:35 am PT. The excerpt from Queen’s thumping 1981 hit Under Pressure (lyrics and some vocals by David Bowie) was the music played — it lasted less than a minute.
Pressure
Pushing down on me
Pressing down on you
No man ask for
Under pressure
That burns a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets
Then a cheery female voice-over delivered the upbeat first message of the day:
“Your friends and colleagues at the Canadian Space Agency wish you another great day on your voyage. Canadians everywhere are inspired by your journey and we’re with you every step of the way. Let’s go!”
Tech stuff:
The first tech activity of the day today was synchronization of the crew’s personal computers and email.
The crew told NASA this morning that they’re running “a bit low on peripheral battery power” and asked permission to unplug a few things (including the external camera) as required.
Chatting with the prime minister:
At 4:20 pm PDT today, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will have a livestreamed conversation with Prime Minister Mark Carney, organized by the Canadian Space Agency.
===== RELATED:
- Artemis II: Day 6 takes Orion behind the Moon (April 6, 2026)
- Artemis II: Day 5 tech talk and Easter messages (April 5, 2026)
- Hansen chats with Canadian youth in Sunday morning livestream (April 5, 2026)
- Artemis II from Earth to Moon and back: Day 4 update (April 4, 2026)
- Artemis II crew: burning smell so far not of concern (April 4, 2026)
- Artemis II: Day 3 meals & tech work (April 3, 2026)
- Artemis II: Col Jeremy Hansen says “It was a great burn!” (April 2, 2026)
- Day 2 technology details for Artemis II crew (April 2, 2026)
- Artemis II: troubleshooting some technical things (April 2, 2026)
- Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen heads to the moon (April 1, 2026)
- Artemis Mission Updates (NASA)
- NEWS SECTIONS: AEROSPACE | OFF-PLANET | TECHNOLOGY | NASA