USACH Planetarium Presents Beatles and Coldplay Artemis II Shows
Planetario USACH presents the shows of Los Beatles and Coldplay that traveled on the Artemis II mission
Santiago, Chile — The Planetarium of the University of Santiago, Chile (USACH) announced on April 16, 2026, that it will host a special exhibition featuring audio recordings of the bands Los Beatles and Coldplay that were carried aboard NASA’s Artemis II spacecraft during its lunar flyby mission in November 2025. The recordings, part of NASA’s “Sounds of Space” initiative, were played back during the mission to study the effects of microgravity on audio perception and were later returned to Earth for public dissemination.
The exhibition, titled “Beyond Earth: Music in Space,” will run from May 1 to June 30, 2026, at the Planetario USACH facility in Santiago. It will include interactive displays explaining how sound waves behave in the vacuum of space and the technical challenges of transmitting audio from Earth to deep space. Visitors will be able to listen to the original recordings through high-fidelity headphones even as viewing corresponding video footage captured by the Orion spacecraft’s external cameras during the Artemis II flight.
According to Dr. Elena Rojas, Director of Science Outreach at Planetario USACH, the initiative aims to bridge the gap between space exploration and popular culture. “By bringing these iconic musical pieces into the context of a real space mission, we hope to inspire younger generations to see the interconnectedness of science, art and human endeavor,” Rojas stated during the announcement press conference. The Planetarium collaborated with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center to secure the playback rights and ensure accurate reproduction of the audio as experienced during the mission.
The Artemis II mission, launched on November 3, 2025, marked the first crewed flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft, sending four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon. While the primary objectives focused on testing life support systems and navigation capabilities, the inclusion of cultural payloads like the music recordings was approved as part of NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement programs designed to increase public engagement with space exploration.
Los Beatles, the Chilean rock band formed in Santiago in 2008, contributed their 2020 single “Estrella Andina” to the mission payload. Coldplay’s contribution was their 2021 track “Higher Power,” selected for its thematic resonance with space exploration and human aspiration. Both tracks were encoded into the spacecraft’s onboard storage system and played during specific intervals of the mission when the spacecraft was beyond low Earth orbit.
NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface by 2026 and establish a sustainable presence by 2030, has increasingly incorporated cultural and educational elements into its missions. The agency’s STEM Engagement office reported in March 2026 that over 12 million students worldwide participated in related educational activities during the Artemis II flight, with music-based activities accounting for approximately 15% of the total engagement metrics.
The Planetario USACH exhibition will likewise feature a series of workshops for school groups, led by local astronomers and musicians, exploring the physics of sound in different atmospheric conditions and the role of music in astronaut psychological support during long-duration spaceflight. Registration for the workshops opens on April 20, 2026, through the Planetarium’s official website.
As of the announcement date, neither NASA nor the bands’ representatives have issued additional public statements regarding the cultural payload beyond the initial mission documentation. The Planetario USACH has confirmed that the exhibition will adhere to all institutional guidelines for public science communication and will be free to the public during its run.