Space Oddity

International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield has spent the last year charming the earthbound public with his tweets and Tumblr posts from the International Space Station. Now, it turns out he’s got pipes, too: to celebrate the end of his tenure on the I.S.S., he’s recorded a gorgeous and touching tribute to David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.”

He’s also a veteran member of Max Q—an all-astronaut band that’s been playing with rotating lineups since 1987. When Hadfield’s on the ground, he covers bass and lead vocals. And he’s good—really good. As of this morning, the “Space Oddity” video had passed 1.5 million hits, and Bowie’s Facebook page lauded it as  “possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created.”