“Jingle Bells” is a classic song sung at Christmas time, but it didn’t start out that way. First published in 1857, it was written by James Lord Pierpont, to be sung on Thanksgiving — not Christmas. The original title of the song was “One Horse Open Sleigh,” but that was changed to “Jingle Bells, or the One Horse Open Sleigh” when it was reprinted in 1859. Astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford, orbiting Earth on Gemini 6 on OnDec. 16, 1965, made “Jingle Bells” the first song heard from space (video below). They played it on a harmonica with accompanying bells after sending this message back to Earth: We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in a polar orbit. He’s in a very low trajectory…I see a command module and eight smaller modules in front. The pilot of the command module is wearing a red suit….”
“Jingle Bells” is a classic song sung at Christmas time, but it didn’t start out that way. First published in 1857, it was written by James Lord Pierpont, to be sung on Thanksgiving — not Christmas. The original title of the song was “One Horse Open Sleigh,” but that was changed to “Jingle Bells, or the One Horse Open Sleigh” when it was reprinted in 1859. Astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford, orbiting Earth on Gemini 6 on OnDec. 16, 1965, made “Jingle Bells” the first song heard from space (video below). They played it on a harmonica with accompanying bells after sending this message back to Earth: We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in a polar orbit. He’s in a very low trajectory…I see a command module and eight smaller modules in front. The pilot of the command module is wearing a red suit….”