Is the song "Space Oddity" by David Bowie based on a real incident?

The song “Space Oddity” by David Bowie (“This is ground control to Major Tom…”) has always been one of my favorites. Then I read about a Soviet Cosmonaut who was marooned in his spacecraft unable to return to earth (and presumably orbits to this day), and I was wondering if the song was related to this incident.

Boy, that’s news to me - I have always thought it was Bowie’s fertile imagination only. If someone could make the link, it would be interesting…

I think it’s about rock and roll.

By the way, nothing orbited by the Russians during their manned space program was orbited high enough to still be there.

Tris

Already been covered by the SDSAB.

The song wasn’t based on a real incident, and “Major Tom” isn’t even supposed to be a real astronaut- not the way I (and most fans) interpret it.

“Major Tom” is a junkie. The astronaut/space imagery is purely symbolic. As the junkie gets high, he begins to drift away from the real world, like an astronaut floating away into space.

Years later, in “ashes to Ashes,” Bowie seemed to confirm this interpretation.

Probably coincidental, but I once read that “ground control” is slang for the person among a group of people tripping on acid who doesn’t partake of any drugs – he stays straight to make sure that they don’t break anything or jump out a window.

The Russian incident you refer to may have been the tragedy of Soyuz 1 Komorov did not get locked into orbit but died when the chutes failed during re entry. I’m not sure if it was widely known in the US or UK in those secretive days of the Space Race so I don’t know if Bowie had any inspiration from it at all.

There are stories around of Soviet cosmonauts dying in orbit and then having the Soviet government hush it up. In fact that site I linked to claims to have recordings of the transmission of his fading vital signs to the ground control.

But as a friend of friend thing, I have some friends who were working at Star City in the sixties and they told me that no cosmonauts died in orbit and that such a thing would have been difficult to cover up from the staff. I find it more unlikely given that no other facts regarding this “dying cosmonaut” have come out despite all the other information on a variety of secret things from the Soviet era that has. Of all things you’d think the family of the man who died would want him remembered…

Not any humans that I know of, but the Soviets left at least one animal to die in orbit. It was the dog named Laika, on Sputnik 2 (I think that’s right).

Don’t know if we ever did anything like that.

Man, that dog was sooo cute. Laika, I mean.

That Straight Dope Science Advisory Board article reminded me of what a sucky song Rocketman was.

An astronaut who doesn’t actually have any scientific training…right…

Yeah - next they’ll be telling us backhoe operators aren’t required to take engineering classes. Sheesh.

Yeah!

Wait a second…

It seems a little far fetched. I have heard stories of a failed first manned mission as well except that the Cosmonaut supposedly was injured and survived and was later shipped off so as to cover the initial failure. Then weeks later they launched Gagarin’s mission.

Both of these “failed” launches seem to go opposite of what is now known about the Soviet Space program. When it had its catastrophic setbacks (such as Soyuz 1) it was months before they were able to launch again. The same reason for the long break after Appolo 1 and later the Challenger. The Scientist had to discover what exactly failed. They would not have sent another ship that soon especially when it would have taken months to pour over the data and figure why the craft failed to re enter or (in the second example) why it crashed

Anyone who would suggest that the Soviets would have kept launching to beat the Americans fail to explain how shooting faulty craft into space that have shown a large chance of failure and another Dead Cosmonaut (who were a small group at first and considering their initail training it is no wonder) would benifit the prestige of the Soviet Space program.

sorry this turned into a hijack sorry.

Damn! Where the hell was the internet way back when I was in High School?

In sophmore year English class we were asked to pick a song and interperet it’s lyrics. I chose Space Oddity and without knowing it I seemed to have gotten a better grasp of the song than my teacher (who was kind of like a reformed hippie). I received a C with a note saying that I was way off target. If only I could go back 18 years in the past and show him how wrong he was.

Granted I didn’t say he was a junkie but that Major Tom was extremely depressed, on drugs (protein pills), and his wife was leaving him (“who’s shirt you wear?” line meant had his wife’s lovers shirt on). This caused him to be suicidal and he was commiting suicide by jumping out a window. It’s been a long time so I don’t remember specifically what I wrote but that was the general jist of it. I still think that is a better interpertation than that he was an actual astronaut (not a knock at the OP but at my teacher).

I always thought “the papers want to know whose shirts you wear” was a reference to product endorsement

jjimm, not sure if you meant my post but I have no idea what Bowie actually meant. I was only saying that was my interpertation 18 years ago (damn that sounds so long ago) for a class assignment. I am sure it has many flaws but I thought it was better than my teacher gave my credit for.

Sorry about my spelling in my last post. I am getting out of work early (yeah snow) and I am trying to finish up work and play at the time.

I was referring to your post, but it wasn’t a criticism - just what I thought it meant.