Can Astronauts Play Musical Instruments in Space?
Have any astronauts ever played any musical instruments in space in a spacecraft? Is it possible to play any instruments that you blow in in space or is it not possible because of zero gravity?
Astronauts do indeed play musical instruments in space--according to one story I found, it is a popular Saturday pastime aboard the space station! Instruments should work just fine in zero gravity. The space-bound musician would only run into trouble if she tried to play outside of the shuttle or space station. Sounds waves need air to travel through, so even though the string of a violin would vibrate properly in the near-vacuum of space, it wouldn't produce any sound. Brass instruments would also fall silent: they produce sound because of air vibrating inside their metals bodies, so without air, there would be no sound!
NASA has some neat pictures of astronauts playing their musical instruments here:
Trumpeting on the International Space Station
On top of that, Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield has become quite well known for his videos singing and playing the guitar on the International Space Station!
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