Intuitive Machines, a private space company from Houston, has added a new page to the history of lunar exploration. Its Athena lander, launched in late February on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, crashed during landing, destroying some of the payload inside. However, one payload survived: An 8-terabyte data center backup that also included a Children of the Sky song by Imagine Dragons.
This track, recorded in 2023 for the video game Starfield, was an unexpected “musical message” from Earthlings on the Moon. It is stored in Lonestar Data Holdings’ digital repository, which is supposed to serve as a backup for data in space. Despite the fact that the composition is characteristic of Imagine Dragons’ style – energetic but shambolic – the project members call it a symbol of progress.
“We want to inspire a new generation to explore space,” Lonestar investor Ryan Micheletti said before the launch. For that reason, they chose for the mission the composition Children of the Sky. According to composer Inon Zur, the song “will remain on the Moon forever.”
Success, we’re on the Moon! Following Athena’s touchdown on the lunar surface, our friends at Lonestar successfully transmitted ‘Children of the Sky’ song and lyrics to their data center on the Moon. The song will now be on the Moon…forever!! pic.twitter.com/8lxbajRR9N
— Inon Zur (@InonZur) March 7, 2025
This event is not the first of its kind. Previously, tracks by Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley were sent to the Earth’s moon – all of them also ended up there after accidents of the landing modules. Ironically, the failures make the Moon an unexpected “archive” of Earth culture.
Although the logistics of the project are questionable, since the Athena vehicle’s destruction, Lonestar insists that the data transfer has been successful. However, skeptics remind us that success is a relative concept. But even if Children of the Sky will never reach listeners from the Moon, the very fact of its presence there is already attractive to those who believe in the space future.
We previously reported on how Intuitive Machines posted a farewell photo of Athena.
According to stereogum.com
