A member of the Polaris Dawn flight crew performed the first violin solo in space — appropriately to the tune of a “Star Wars” theme — after participating in the first-ever civilian spacewalk.
After her historic jaunt outside the space ship with billionaire Jared Isaacman on Thursday, SpaceX engineer Sarah Gills serenaded her crew members and the world with her violin as she played “Rey’s Theme,” a John Williams score from the flick “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
Footage of the cosmic concerto shows Gills floating inside SpaceX’s Dragon capsule as she plays the cinematic song with her hair standing up in the weightlessness of space.
Her playing was synced up with orchestras around the world to complete the ensemble, but Gills’ part was solely audible in real-time to her three crew members, who could be seen grinning at the once-in-a-lifetime concert.
Polaris Dawn dubbed the solo “Harmony of Resilience,” which was scheduled in a partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and El Sistema as a way to use music to boost the spirits of the children helped by the organizations.
“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 said in a statement.
Along with the spacewalk and violin solo, the Polaris flight was filled with many firsts, including traveling further into space than any astronaut since the Apollo missions in 1972.
Because the SpaceX capsule did not have an airlock during Thursday’s spacewalk, it was also the first time four astronauts have been simultaneously exposed to the vacuum of space.
Isaacman and Gills were the only two to pop in and out of the capsule, with mission director Anna Melon and retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet staying inside the ship to monitor the situation.
After the mission, which also tested SpaceX’s new spacesuits, the Polaris crew landed safely back to Earth on Sunday, wrapping up its five-day trip.
The spacecraft landed in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida’s Dry Tortugas, with the crew picked up by officials within an hour after its arrival.
