What will wake Artemis II astronauts? NASA unveils moon mission playlist

Ahead of the Artemis II splashdown, NASA drops the wake-up playlist of four astronauts onboard the Orion spacecraft on Wednesday, April 8, 2026. 

NASA, in a social media post on its X (formerly Twitter) handle, released astronauts’ much-anticipated Spotify playlist that sends netizens into a frenzy.

NASA captioned the post, “You asked for it. Here it is,” while revealing the list via Spotify.

“Each track was selected by the Moon crew, continuing a tradition that started more than 50 years ago. Stay tuned to find out which songs they’ll choose next.”

The current Artemis II wake-up song playlist includes:

Sleepyhead  by Young & Sick

Green Light (feat. André 3000)  by John Legend and André 3000

In a Daydream by Freddy Jones Band

Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan

Working Class Heroes (Work) by CeeLo Green

Good Morning by Mandisa and TobyMac

Tokyo Drifting by Glass Animals and Denzel Curry

Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie

Artemis II 10-day moon flyby mission is set to conclude on Friday, April 10, with the splashdown expected off the California coast near San Diego.

Artemis II carrying four astronauts onboard the Orion capsule, with mission commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover. Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

NASA’s moon flyby mission was launched on April 1 at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, to make a flyby of the far side of the moon.

Earlier this week, Artemis II crew completed a moon flyby, becoming the first astronauts to loop around the moon in over 50 years.

Artemis II woke up to music each day—Under Pressure, which played out on Wednesday morning, April 8, a tradition that Artemis II is keeping from previous Apollo missions.

If you’re still wondering how long astronauts have used music to wake up, here’s your go-to guide.

Back in 2015, Colin Fries from the NASA History Division designed a chronology of wake-up calls.

In his chronology, Fries pointed out a letter written by Lynn W. Heninger to a lawmaker, Illinois Rep. Robert H. Michel, in 1990.

Heninger noted that the use of music to awaken astronauts on space missions dates back at least to the Apollo Program.

Artemis II’s last wake-up call: which song will it be?

NASA hasn’t hinted at it yet, but in the past, multiple crews woke up on their final morning in space to Dean Martin’s buzzing song Going Back to Houston.