Classical singer Sarah Brightman is undergoing training at Star City near Moscow as she prepares to journey to the International Space Station (ISS) for a performance in space.
Brightman will depart Earth on a Russian Soyuz craft on 1 September, and is due to spend 10 days aboard the ISS, 420km above Earth.
During her stay, the 54-year-old – who has described the 1969 moon landing as a “pivotal moment” in her life – will sing a new song she has co-written with former husband Andrew Lloyd Webber. In the 1980s, Brightman starred on the West End stage in Webber’s musicals Cats and The Phantom of the Opera.
“To sing in microgravity is a very different thing to singing down here,” Brightman told journalists at a London press conference, as reported by the BBC.
“We use the Earth to ground ourselves when we sing and the air around us.
“This is going to be very different. I’m trying to find a piece that is beautiful and simple in its message, as well as not complicated to sing.”
Brightman is to become the eighth space tourist.
In 2013, former ISS commander Chris Hadfield recorded a version of David Bowie’s 1969 song Space Oddity before making his return journey to Earth, creating the first music video ever filmed in space. The clip became a viral hit and currently sits near 25m views on YouTube.
Space image via Shutterstock
