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‘Jingle Bells’ Was The First Song Performed In Space Because 2 Military Pilots Pranked NASA
Like Batman and the Joker, or the Red Sox and the Yankees, the rivalry between the Air Force and the Navy is long and complicated. The highly-influential Air Force pilot Col. John Boyd said in 1969, “We don’t care what the Russians are doing. We only care about what the Navy is doing,” which summarizes how the two services have battled over airpower funding and fighter aircraft designs for decades.
But any rivalry can be put to rest with a little Christmas spirit, especially when you’re isolated in the cold vacuum of space. And that, dear reader, is how the first song was ever performed live in outer space, according to The Smithsonian.
A little more than 56 years ago, on Dec. 16, 1965, an Air Force pilot named Thomas Stafford and a Navy pilot named Wally Schirra played the Christmas anthem ‘Jingle Bells’ on a harmonica and miniature sleigh bells just before re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.
Gemini VI Jingle Bells
On this day (#OTD) December 16, 1965, Gemini VI astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra played a prank on Mission Control. Just before Gemini VI was set to reenter Earth's atmosphere, Stafford claimed to have received a mysterious radio signal. He said: "We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in polar orbit….Very low, looks like he might be going to re-enter soon….Standby one, it looks like he’s trying to signal us.”Stafford and Schirra then burst into a performance of “Jingle Bells”, with Stafford on harmonica and Schirra on bells. It was the first song ever performed in outer space.Listen to the full transmission (and song) in the video below!
Posted by NASA History on Saturday, December 16, 2017However, the song was performed not solely for peace on Earth and good will to men. No, the airman and sailor were bound together by the long military aviator tradition of trolling people on the ground.
For context: Stafford and Schirra had been sitting in a cramped space about the size of an economy-class airline seat for more than a day. They had just accomplished the first space rendezvous with their sister ship, Gemini 7, a maneuver that “required the most exacting pilot and computer control of a space vehicle yet attempted,” according to Smithsonian Magazine. Four days earlier, the two astronauts had nearly died after an engine malfunction almost destroyed their rocket on the launch pad.
“The crew was exceedingly lucky that the Titan [rocket] hadn’t actually taken flight,” said space flight historian Amy Shira Teitel in a 2015 video. “Had they even gotten a few inches off the launch pad when the engines shut down they would have fallen back down and it would have exploded.”
Stafford and Schirra had a second lucky break that day when they didn’t pull the D-ring that would have triggered their ejection seats.
“Even though the system was designed for their safety it would have been a bit of a painful ride owing to the high-G forces,” Teitel said.
It also might have lit them up like “two Roman candles,” as Stafford recalled in a 1997 oral history for NASA, because the capsule was filled with highly-flammable pure oxygen.
“It would have burned the suits,” Stafford said. “Everything was soaked in oxygen. So thank God.”
Close calls with sudden death are a routine occurrence for any military aviator. With that kind of weight in the background, it’s hard to blame them for having a little fun every once in a while. Maybe that’s why Stafford and Schirra smuggled their mini sleigh bells and harmonica into their cramped capsule. But before they performed, they had to work the crowd first.
This Hohner harmonica is part of the harmonica and bells set carried by astronauts Walter “Wally” Schirra and Tom Stafford aboard Gemini 6 (VI-A) in December of 1965; studio photograph against a white background made October 12, 2005. The mission was to test the docking and maneuvering capability of the Gemini spacecraft. A few hours after the successful maneuvering of the the two spacecraft to within six inches of each other, the Gemini 6 astronauts played “Jingle Bells,” with Schirra on the harmonica and Stafford playing the bells. (National Air and Space Museum)
While preparing to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, Stafford reported seeing some kind of unidentified flying object.
“We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in a polar orbit,” Stafford told Mission Control in Houston, Texas. “Looks like he might be going to re-enter soon. Stand by one; it looks like he’s trying to signal us.”
Then the two astronauts picked up their instruments and scratched out the first live concert in space. They had come up with the plan weeks before the mission.
“Wally came up with the idea,” Stafford told the Smithsonian. “He could play the harmonica, and we practiced two or three times before we took off, but of course we didn’t tell the guys on the ground….We never considered singing, since I couldn’t carry a tune in a bushelbasket.”
Stafford could tell Mission Control was getting tense when he described an unknown object in orbit with them, but the mood was much lighter after he and Schirra played their song.
“You’re too much [Gemini] 6,” Mission Control said afterwards.
h/t to The Merge newsletter for alerting us to this special story.
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Here Are The True Stories Behind Your Favorite Christmas Songs
As always happens right before Christmas, the Billboard Hot 100 chart is filled with holiday songs this week. We're getting in the Christmas spirit by bringing you fun stories behind some of your favorites!Here Comes Santa ClausThis is a story of when a singing cowboy got upstaged by Santa Claus on Hollywood Boulevard. In the Christmas season of 1949, Gene Autry's version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was the No. 1 song in America. But the previous year, Autry had a top 10 hit with another Christmas song that he wrote after his experience in the Hollywood Christmas Parade.
In 1946, Autry rode as grand marshal in the Hollywood Christmas Parade, which was then known by a different name. Shopping malls weren't invented yet, and the merchants along Hollywood Boulevard wanted to lure as many holiday shoppers as possible. They started marketing the district as Santa Claus Lane and brought in A-list stars like Autry to appear in what was then called The Santa Claus Lane Parade.Even though Autry was a huge star at the time, he was upstaged by someone else. As he rode down "Santa Claus Lane," he heard the chorus of kids shouting in delight - but not for him, as his widow Jackie Autry later explained: "He heard the kids yelling, 'Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus because Santa Claus was on a float just behind Gene."
The excited words of those kids, "Here comes Santa Claus," gave Autry the idea for what became a top 10 hit at the time and has endured as a beloved Christmas classic ever since.
Jingle BellsThis beloved Christmas song was actually written for a different holiday and would later become part of the greatest prank ever pulled in outer space.
Long Before Shroeder played "Jingle Bells" in "A Charlie Brown Christmas," and well before Ralphie's family sang it in "A Christmas Story," "Jingle Bells" is believed to have first been performed in 1857 at a Sunday school concert on Thanksgiving. It was originally titled, "The One Horse Opened Sleigh" by composer James Lord Pierpont, who'd later serve in the Confederate Army.
Now among the most recognizable songs on Earth, Jingle Bells also holds a unique record in outer space. Shortly before Christmas in 1965, NASA's Gemini 6 crew reported seeing a UFO that resembled Santa and his reindeer
"This is Gemini 6. We have an object that looks like a satellite going north to south up in a polar orbit," the astronauts were recorded saying.
Then, astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford surprised everyone at Mission Control suggesting the UFO was trying to make contact.
"It looks like he's trying to signal something," then "Jingle Bells" started to play! Schirra and Stafford then revealed they'd snuck bells and a harmonica onboard for their Christmas prank, which also made history as the first live music ever performed in space.
Last ChristmasWham! Blended the classic 80s synthesizer sound with holiday sentimentality for "Last Christmas." It's among America's favorite Christmas songs even though some people spend the entire holiday season hoping to never hear it.George Michael wrote the song in his childhood bedroom while visiting his parents. It's a Christmas song that isn't about Christmas at all. "Last Christmas" actually tells the story of a difficult breakup.
Thirty five years later, Michael gave Emma Thompson his blessing to write a movie based on the lyrics, and we got the 2019 Christmas rom-com, "Last Christmas," starring Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding.
But the song is not universally loved. Each year, some people try to avoid hearing it all throughout December in a game called "Whamageddon." The rules are simple: If you hear "Last Christmas" anywhere, you're out of the game and have to post online with the hashtag #Whamageddon.
But for many, it's a holiday favorite covered by stars like Taylor Swift, Gwen Stefani and Ariana Grande.
After George Michael's death on Christmas Day 2016, people started streaming his original Wham! Version like never before. In 2018, the song, which wasn't originally released as a single in the U.S. Made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.
All I Want for Christmas is YouThere's no bigger holiday hit then Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You." The song, first released in 1994, is No. 1 on The Billboard Hot 100 Chart again this week, making it the first song ever to top the chart in three different years. And it's now officially gone platinum 10 times over, making it the first holiday tune to ever be certified diamond. When Billboard put out a list of its 100 greatest holiday songs this year, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You," was of course No. 1.
This year, Mariah began her Christmas season right after Halloween, posting video at midnight on Nov. 1 smashing pumpkins to declare Halloween over and Christmastime upon us.
Her song continues to get more and more popular each year. In fact, 25 years after its release, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time - the first Christmas song to be No. 1 in America since the Chipmunks in the 1950s.And talk about a wish come true: Carey has reportedly earned well over $60 million in royalties from her upbeat holiday hit.
"When I first wrote it, all I did was critique myself. 'Why did I do that? Why is it like that? I wish I had fixed that.' And now there've been so many different versions of the song that I'm like you know what? I can live with this and love it and accept it and embrace it as part of my Christmas tradition every year," Carey said in an interview with the Associated Press.
One of those different versions is a memorable scene in the movie "Love Actually." But it's not all "love actually" for the song: A bar in Texas this year put a sign on the jukebox saying "Mariah can only be played once a night."
Someone wrote on Twitter: "Is this the war on Christmas I've heard about," and Mariah responded, posting a photo of herself in armor on a battlefield - ready for a fight! Clearly, you don't mess with the queen of Christmas.
Have Yourself a Merry Little ChristmasMovie legend Judy Garland was first to perform the melancholy holiday classic, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - but not in a Christmas movie.
It was the MGM musical "Meet Me in St. Louis." Garland's character was trying to cheer up her little sister on Christmas Eve, their family devastated to be moving to New York City, leaving behind their beloved hometown of St. Louis.
Judy Garland actually thought the song was too sad and asked for the original lyrics to be changed. It was originally, "Have yourself a merry little Christmas. It may be your last. Next year we may all be living in the past."
After Garland lobbied for a re-write, it was switched to: "Let your heart be light. Next year all our troubles will be out of sight."
And with that, Hollywood history and holiday history were made!
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Jingle Johns Rap Lil' Jon For Christmas This Year With Help From Kool-Aid Man
Service Sanitation comes out with a new video every year in which they perform "Disco Santa," "Hallelujah" and many other songs.
The unique tradition has gotten extensive media coverage from outlets like NPR, National Geographic, WGN, Fox 59 Indianapolis and Windy City Live. They have rapped and danced to Snoop Dogg.
The Jingle Johns often tour the Region and greater Chicagoland, performing at municipal celebrations, churches, parades or places like Lincoln Park Zoo's Zoo Lights but such events have been scaled back because of the pandemic. This year, the singing porta potties visited the homes of any Service Sanitation employees who requested an appearance.
NWI Business Ins and Outs: Sip, McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, furniture store opening; closings include Jelly, Tapas Cafe and Cousins Subs Coming soonSip, the popular local coffee shop chain with cafes in Crown Point, Highland and Cedar Lake, will try out a smaller format at its newest location in Munster.
A Little Sip will open in the Hammond Clinic on Calumet Avenue in Munster, just south of the Borman Expressway and the Hammond border. The counter-serve coffee shop will cater to patients, doctors and anyone looking to grab a coffee on their commute.
"It's as soon as you walk in," Sip owner Rhonda Bloch said. "It's right there to the right. We normally have a big space, so it will be challenging to do a smaller space. I'm interested in what it will be like in the business aspects. There won't be much waste with the inventory."
The Munster Sip will offer a full menu of coffee and espresso drinks, as well as juices and smoothies. People will be able to get lattes, frappes, iced coffee and hot tea. The food menu will be limited to grab-and-go items like bagels, croissants, donuts and fruit salads.
Block had been eyeing the spot for some time and recently worked out a deal when the space became available.
"Patients, doctors, nurses, so many people pass by there in the morning," she said. "I see them pass by with Dunkin, Starbucks and McDonalds cups and know many would prefer local coffee if they had access to it."
It may appeal to commuters on their way to Chicago.
"We're hoping for that," she said. "It's very accessible. You can just park and run in the door and see us right there."
It will replace a coffee shop that closed in the Hammond Clinic.
"It just served drip coffee," she said. "They weren't really into coffee, which makes it hard to do a local coffee shop well. Plus COVID hit."
Joseph S. Pete Opening next monthSip is planning further expansion this year. Block wants to open two more full-sized coffee shops somewhere in the Region.
"I'm watching our feed to see where they want it the most," she said. "People have been suggesting Munster, St. John, Schererville and Whiting. It depends on what spaces we can find. I'd like to do two full-blown coffee houses with full services. Two is enough for one year. Between my managers and me, I think we can open two."
Sip has become a well-known brand across Northwest Indiana.
"Our coffee shops are down to earth," she said. "People say the Crown Point one reminds them of 'Friends' and I can see that."
She plans to continue to grow, potentially by franchising out new locations.
"I've thought about getting investors," she said. "I'm looking into it."
Sip plans to open in Munster in January. Bloch is looking to hire two full-time employees to run the shop, which will be open between 8 a.M. And 5 p.M. Monday through Friday.
For more information, email rhondabloch@yahoo.Com.
Joseph S. Pete ReturningThe Burger King that suffered a fire in Crown Point last November may be finally returning soon.
Construction activity has recently been observed inside the fast-food burger joint at 1137 N. Main St.
"We have not received a permit application yet, but there has been talk that we will be receiving one soon," said Jenni Pause of the city building department.
Firefighters battled an overnight blaze for three hours more than a year ago, and the restaurant has not served a Whopper since.
Joseph S. Pete RenovationsThe McDonald's in St. John is undergoing an extensive renovation and is inviting customers to "experience the future" when the work is complete.
The fast-food restaurant at 9769 Wicker Ave. Is getting self-order kiosks, table service and a new modern dining room.
A grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony is slated for Jan. 20.
Joseph S. Pete ClosedTapas Cafe, a Spanish and European eatery that billed itself as one of Northwest Indiana's best restaurants, has shuttered in downtown Griffith after recently opening a sister restaurant in East Chicago.
The eatery, formerly in Crown Point, specialized in tapas small plates and international fusion fare. It occupied the former Broad Street Gyros space on Broad.
Chef Eli Gomez is instead now focusing on E.C. Cafe and Restaurant, which serves Spanish paella, tacos and sandwiches.
For more information, call 219-427-8759 or find the business on Facebook.
Joseph S. Pete RelocatingJelly Pancake House's Merrillville location, which was supposed to reopen in August after closing earlier in the pandemic, is now permanently shuttered but looking to relocate to another town that's yet to be determined.
The contemporary breakfast and brunch restaurant remains open at its Dyer location on U.S. 30.
Jelly's Merrillville location at 399 E. 81st Ave. Is now being advertised for lease by Latitude Commercial.
The rock-themed Jelly Pancake House has been selling "jammin' breakfast and lunch" since 2008. The breakfast menu includes chicken and waffles, a waffle flight, eggs benedict, skillets, omelets, crepes and French toast. Lunch options include soups, salads, sandwiches and wraps.
A Jelly representative said the new location had not yet been decided.
Joseph S. Pete ClosedCousins Subs, which is making a push to expand across Northwest Indiana and greater Chicagoland, closed its St. John location.
The sub shop in a gas station at 10861 Wicker Ave. Specialized in Italian subs and Wisconsin-themed fare, such as cheese curds, Sprecher root beer and steak and brat subs.
Cousins Subs still has a location at 10537 Broadway in Crown Point's booming Beacon Hill development.
Joseph S. Pete Coming soonTri-Force Training plans to open soon in downtown Valparaiso.
The personal training studio that focuses on physical rehabilitation will establish its first location at 57 Franklin St. It's leasing about 1,100 square feet of space and hopes to open this month.
“Tri Force Training is owned and managed by an experienced physical trainer and will be a great addition to the community," said Antony Miocic, of Crown Point-based Latitude Commercial, which brokered the transaction. "This is the last vacancy at 57 Franklin St. And I’m happy to say we were able to get the building to 100% occupancy.”
Joseph S. Pete PlannedTaco Bell plans to open a new location at 17943 Torrence Ave. In Lansing next to the new Starbucks coffee shop that's coming in.
The Mexican chain, known for its tacos, burritos, chalupas, quesadillas and other Tex-Mex fare, recently received approval from the village to build a restaurant with two drive-through lanes and an outdoor dining area. Taco Bell is especially popular with younger customers given its value menu and late-night hours.
Joseph S. Pete OpenFurniture Icon recently celebrated its grand opening at 6702 Indianapolis Blvd. In Hammond.
The new furniture store took over a 3,065-square-foot space formerly occupied by Payless Shoes across from the Hammond Sportsplex where the Woodmar Mall once stood.
Furniture Icon sells couches, recliners, dinner tables, dressers, beds and other furniture. It has been offering incentives like no credit check financing, free delivery and a free rug with the purchase of a living room set.
"With over 15 years of experience, we strive for quality and excellence for our growing clientele," the business posted online. "No hassle shopping, same-day delivery and assembly are the key features we believe set us apart from other furniture stores."
For more information, call 219-742-9705, email iconfurniture0@gmail.Com, visit furnitureicon.Com or find the business on Facebook.
If you would like your business to be included in a future column, email joseph.Pete@nwi.Com.
Joseph S. Pete WATCH NOW: Riding Shotgun with NWI Cops — Patrolling Lowell with Cpl. Aaron Crawfordalert urgent editor's pick
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