Astronauts on board the U.S. Space Shuttle Discovery were awoken at 3:24 a.m. on Saturday March 5th by a recording of Bowling for Soup's "Ohio (Come Back to Texas)". The track was radioed up from mission control and was a request from the crew's families back home on planet Earth.
"Good morning, Discovery," called astronaut Michael Massimino in Houston. "That song comes to you from your families, it's for the whole crew. They do want you back here in Texas, we're looking forward to seeing you back on planet Earth when your mission is complete. Good morning."
"Good morning, Mike, and thanks to our families, who have really, really supported us from the beginning all the way through this mission," replied shuttle commander Steven Lindsey. "We really appreciate them and really look forward to seeing them again."
The request to play the track followed the news that Discovery's mission was extended two days to give the combined crews more time to unload the Permanent Multipurpose Module that was attached to the station Tuesday. If all goes well, the transfer work will be completed Sunday, hatches will be closed Sunday afternoon and Discovery will undock Monday morning around 7 a.m, Landing back at the Kennedy Space Center just before midday this Wednesday.