Polaris Dawn astronaut Sarah Gillis, a violinist, released a new music video from space this morning.
Just yesterday (Sept. 12), Gillis was one of two Polaris Dawn astronauts to perform a historic spacewalk, the world's first commercial extravehicular activity, or EVA. During the one-hour and 46-minute spacewalk, Gillis and Polaris Dawn mission commander and financier Jared Isaacman tested SpaceX's new EVA suits, which the company says will help enable future missions both in orbit around Earth and farther out into space, potentially on the moon or Mars.
Early on Friday (Sept. 13), Gillis and the Polaris Program released the video titled "Harmony of Resilience" on X (formerly Twitter). "As we travel around our beautiful planet Earth on this five-day mission, we wanted to share this special musical moment with you. Bringing together global talent, this performance symbolizes unity and hope, highlighting the resilience and potential of children everywhere," Gillis says when introducing the video.
The song in the video, "Rey's Theme," was written by John Williams for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and was performed by Gillis aboard the Polaris Dawn mission's Crew Dragon spacecraft. In the video, Gillis can be seen playing the song's solo violin part alongside videos of orchestras performing the song in studios and on soundstages.
"Inspired by the universal language of music and the relentless fight against childhood cancers and diseases, this moment was created with the hope of inspiring the next generation to look towards the stars," the Polaris Program wrote on its website. The video was created in partnership with with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, for whom the Polaris Program is raising money throughout the mission, and El Sistema USA, a program that aims to promote music education "for positive societal impact."
Polaris Dawn launched on Tuesday (Sept. 10) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The Polaris Dawn crew consists of mission funder and commander Jared Isaacman; mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, both SpaceX engineers; and pilot Scott 'Kidd' Poteet, a former lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force.
During the mission so far, the four private astronauts onboard have conducted a wide range of science experiments to help gather data on how the human body is affected by spaceflight.
The crew has also tested in-flight communications using SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation and conducted outreach with the public, all while raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and breaking altitude records, flying higher than any crewed mission in orbit since Gemini 11 in 1966.
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