Space Station Earth debuts at London’s Royal Albert Hall
An emotionally charged, immersive live show that uses a spellbinding combination of music and imagery to recreate the profound cognitive shift astronauts experience in space is about to premiere at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
The event – which takes place this weekend – marks the beginning of a European tour that was created thanks to an artistic collaboration between ESA and British composer Ilan Eshkeri.
Space Station Earth features a new musical score written by Eshkeri set against a backdrop of inspiring never-before-seen imagery, much of which was captured on board the International Space Station.
Each show also includes a live interview with a European astronaut, with British ESA astronaut Tim Peake joining Eshkeri on stage in London.
The result is a cinematic experience that illustrates the profound change in consciousness that is often reported during spaceflight, known as the overview effect.
“Nothing can prepare you for that first moment when you see Earth against the vast backdrop of the Universe,” says Peake. “It makes you appreciate both the fragility and beauty of this cradle of life – the place we call home. Space Station Earth brings you as close to that same sense of awe and wonder that astronauts experience as is possible, without leaving the planet.”
The beginning of the project can be traced back to 2015, when Peake contacted Eshkeri ahead of his Principia mission.
“Tim got in touch with me to ask if he could use a piece of my music in a video he planned to film on the Space Station – and this resulted in an invitation to visit him at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where he was training at the time,” says Eshkeri. “I found this trip profoundly impactful, and it made me think: why are we just making a five-minute video? Why don’t we create something different, something bigger?”
From here, the idea snowballed – Eshkeri worked with ESA to explore the agency’s facilities and trawl through its media archives, which served as inspiration for the project.
During this journey, Eshkeri experienced the feeling of weightlessness on a micro-gravity parabolic flight, travelled to Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana to see an Ariane 5 launch, and witnessed aurora borealis from ESA’s Kiruna station in northern Sweden.
He also reached out to other ESA astronauts – including Andreas Mogensen, Matthias Maurer, Jean-François Clervoy, Frank De Winne and Luca Parmitano – who will join Eshkeri on stage at later tour dates.
These experiences helped Eshkeri and his artistic collaborators to develop a new musical score that blends choir, orchestra and synthesisers. The footage captured at ESA’s facilities on the ground as well as in orbit was then edited to accompany the score to create Space Station Earth.
“An important theme of my conversations with astronauts is the sense of responsibility they feel to work closely with their crewmates to stay safe and thrive while in space – and I think the same principle applies on Earth,” says Eshkeri.
“I hope the show illustrates how collaboration and cooperation can help to effect positive change on our planet. Rather than being passengers, we need to behave more like crew members on Space Station Earth.”
The European tour will continue until 12 October, visiting the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Germany and France. More information on tour dates and how to book tickets can be found on the Space Station Earth site.
