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Astronaut jams with Kraftwerk live in concert from space

The electronica music legends play music via satellite with German astronaut Alexander Gerst from the International Space Station.

Bonnie Burton
Journalist Bonnie Burton writes about movies, TV shows, comics, science and robots. She is the author of the books Live or Die: Survival Hacks, Wizarding World: Movie Magic Amazing Artifacts, The Star Wars Craft Book, Girls Against Girls, Draw Star Wars, Planets in Peril and more! E-mail Bonnie.
Bonnie Burton

When German electronica music pioneers Kraftwerk take the stage, fans might feel like they've been transported into space. And at the band's recent gig in Stuttgart, Germany, Kraftwerk gave fans an even cooler intergalactic treat.

The band invited German astronaut Alexander Gerst to "drop in" for their live performance at the Jazz Open Festival on Stuttgart's Schlossplatz via a live satellite feed from space.

In a video posted Saturday by the European Space Agency, we see Gerst say hello to the band and their audience from his workplace at the International Space Station.

Gerst entertained the audience by playing Kraftwerk's 1978 hit song "Spacelab" on Friday night. The astronaut's musical instrument of choices was a tablet computer with a virtual synthesizer.

This isn't the first time an astronaut has serenaded a live audience from space. While stationed at ISS, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield played a duet with the Barenaked Ladies in 2013.

Here's hoping even more bands start inviting more astronauts to jam with them from space.