Members of K-pop boy band TAN (To All Nations) will be making history by sending their own song into deep space.
Celestis Inc., the pioneer in memorial spaceflights, revealed that TAN, composed of Changsun, Jooan, Jaejun, Sunghyuk, Hyunyeop, Taehoon, and Jiseong, will launch their song ““Walking on the Moon” into deep space on board Celestis’ upcoming historic Enterprise flight, humanity’s first deep space time capsule.
K-pop idol group TAN (From TAN's official X account)
Vulcan Centaur launch rendering (United Launch Alliance)
The launch will be on Dec. 24 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida aboard the inaugural flight of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket.
TAN’s “Walking on the Moon” will be the first K-pop song to be sent physically into space through the historic mission. The track will embark on an extraordinary infinite journey into interplanetary space.
The journey will also incorporate the DNA, cremated remains, and MindFiles of over 200 individuals, including renowned figures such as Star Trek's creator Gene Roddenberry, original cast members Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, and DeForest Kelley, Apollo astronaut Philip Chapman, and special effects master Douglas Trumbull.
In an interview with Manila Bulletin, TAN members revealed how they got involved in the project and expressed excitement about sending their song into deep space.
“While we were in the US, we heard about this amazing opportunity to send one of our songs to be the first K-pop song to be sent into outer space physically. We just thought that we had to participate,” said leader Changsun.
TAN went to Manila last September and held mall tours.
K-pop group TAN in Manila last September (Jonathan Hicap)
Taehoon said the space mission will provide the opportunity for more people to get to know TAN and their song.
“Overall this mission is such a great opportunity. By participating in this project, we can let people know about their song and about themselves, as well as the rest of the galaxy. We thought it was a really good opportunity,” he said.
According to Sunghyuk, they are very happy that TAN’s song will be the first K-pop song to be sent to space.
“Out of all the K-pop songs out there, for us to be invited to such an amazing mission. ‘Walking on the Moon’ is a song that our group really enjoyed ourselves. This song was actually released before. Now we think this is an opportunity for people to fall in love with it again,” he said.
Charles Chafer, co-founder and CEO of Celestis Inc., said TAN’s song will be an important part of the mission.
"Welcome aboard! ‘Walking on the Moon’ is an important contribution to the cosmic time capsule aboard the Enterprise Flight," he said.
Scheduled for Dec. 24, the ULA Vulcan rocket will launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, position a lunar lander on course for its rendezvous with the Moon, and continue into a heliocentric (solar) orbit around the sun.
(Photos from Celestis)
Once the Centaur upper stage has achieved this orbit, the Enterprise Flight will be renamed Enterprise Station–humankind’s furthest outpost–where it will journey endlessly, perhaps awaiting discovery by a distant in time civilization.
Reservations for the Enterprise Flight are now closed; however, the launch date for the next Voyager mission will be announced soon.
Those interested in more information on how to participate in an historic Celestis mission by honoring a deceased loved one or sending DNA to deep space may reach out to Celestis to make reservations.
According to Celestis, its missions offer four unique destinations: reaching into suborbital space, Earth’s orbit, the Moon’s surface, and now - with the Enterprise Flight - to interplanetary space. Celestis’ services are available through our online portal www.celestis.com and via a network of more than 3,000 funeral service providers worldwide.
Since its first mission – the 1997 Founders Flight – and through 18 subsequent missions to date, Celestis has been recognized by nearly every prominent member of the global media, by distinguished organizations, including the National Space Society and the Space Frontier Foundation, and most importantly by its clients from all walks of life – from astronauts to truck drivers - as a leader in both the commercial space industry and among emergent alternative funeral services providers.