Country music legends Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood serenaded NASA astronauts Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson — who are both currently on the International Space Station — during a visit to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on June 29.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being such an inspiration to so many," Fischer said to Brooks in a video of the encounter.
Whitson tweeted her appreciation of the musical number, writing, "Loved the @garthbrooks serenade today! I hope you enjoyed meeting the #NASAvillage. Be sure to try the mac and cheese in the food lab!"
Brooks and Yearwood visited the Johnson Space Center to talk to the astronauts from mission control. Fischer confessed to being a huge fan of Brooks, noting that Brooks' song "The River" has been "pretty much my anthem for the last three decades." The song was even played for Fischer while he was waiting on the launch pad to travel to the space station, he said.
"I think that you have so many great songs and so many great messages," Fischer told Brooks. "But it's the heart you put into every performance and the soul that you put into those songs that make them so impactful."
Brooks and Yearwood then went through a few verses of "The River," singing into the telephone that links voice communications between the ground and the space station. In the video, Fischer can be seen singing along.
Brooks also took selfies with the two astronauts. "Could this be the longest-distance selfie ever?" he tweeted.
Brooks isn't the first country star to sing to the astronauts on the orbiting outpost. In 2014, Brad Paisley sent the song "American Flag on the Moon" via tweet to astronaut Reid Wiseman.
Editor's Note: Space.com senior producer Steve Spaleta contributed to this report.
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