On November 12, 1995 the Space Shuttle Atlantis carried a SoloEtte guitar to space and presented it as a gift to the Russian Cosmonauts aboard the MIR Space Station. It all began when Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield was preparing for the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis with NASA in Houston, TX. He was pondering an appropriate gift to present upon docking with the Russian Mir Space Station, as is the tradition when visiting someone's home in Russia. While walking through the Lockheed campus in Houston, Hadfield came upon a young engineer playing a SoloEtte guitar. As a guitarist, Hadfield learned that the German cosmonaut Thomas Reiter and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev were both guitar players aboard the Mir station. The features of silent practice and durability convinced Hadfield that this would be a perfect gift. He was excited to offer a gift that would help the cosmonauts and astronauts "fill the empty hours." Hadfield then called Rossco Wright to request a guitar. NASA engineers tested the SoloEtte to make sure the electronics would not interfere with space station operations. The astronauts presented this gift of friendship along with Sharon Isbin's CD "American Landscapes." Often referred to as the "astro-guitar" or the "cosmo-guitar," the SoloEtte was a welcome addition to the household and a fantastic pass time while off-duty, sitting in the observation bay, watching the planet roll by. The SoloEtte returned to earth aboard the space shuttle on June 12, 1998. In those 942 days the SoloEtte traveled more than 15 thousand times around the earth and more than 376 million miles.
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The SoloEtte Guitar on the space shuttle Atlantis Chris Hadfield - Astronaut |
SoloEtte on the space station MIR Thomas Reiter - Cosmonaut |
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