One of Chappell Roan’s biggest hits made its way onto the Artemis II mission around the moon yesterday (April 4), after it was briefly used as an alarm to wake the crew.
During NASA’s Saturday livestream of the lunar mission, flight controllers used the former NME Cover star‘s 2023 pop anthem to wake up the astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft. However, to their disappointment, the track was cut just a minute in.
“We were all eagerly awaiting the chorus,” Commander Reid Wiseman said, prompting laughter heard in the livestream. The Capsule Communicator could also be heard replying and promising to “try again next time” before wishing the team a good morning and giving them the rundown for the day.
Per USA Today, Wiseman is part of a team of four astronauts who left Earth’s orbit on Thursday (April 2) for a historic mission to see parts of the moon that nobody has ever seen before.
For around six hours on Monday (April 6), the sun, moon and the Orion spacecraft will be aligned, allowing them to view about 20 per cent of the far side of the moon, lit by the sun, according to NASA.
I'm gonna keep on dancing on the way to the Moon🎵
Today, the Artemis II crew woke up to "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan.
— NASA (@NASA) April 4, 2026
NASA played chappell roan’s pink pony club to wake up the astronauts on artemis II this morning!
“we were all eagerly awaiting the chorus” pic.twitter.com/n0pqgkDz16
— chappell roan daily (@dailyroan) April 4, 2026
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The partial NASA airplay comes after a period of intense scrutiny for Roan, following an incident between a security guard and the stepdaughter of footballer Jorginho.
Late last month (March 22), the former Chelsea and Arsenal player accused a security guard of acting in an “aggressive” manner towards his 11-year-old stepdaughter Ada Law – the daughter of actor Jude — during breakfast at a São Paulo hotel.
Jorginho claimed that Ada, a big fan of Roan, “walked past the table” when she saw the singer – who was in Brazil for Lollapalooza Brasil – at breakfast. He alleged that a security guard went on to “berate” the family, leaving Ada in tears.
Roan addressed the claims, saying that she “didn’t even see” the incident take place and that the security guard wasn’t employed by her. And Catherine Harding, Jorginho’s wife and Ada’s mum, also shared a statement. She acknowledged Roan’s claim that the guard wasn’t her own security, but also said he wasn’t a security guard of the hotel.
Roan received plenty of backlash online and offline, with the mayor of Rio de Janeiro even banning her from one of the city’s largest music events. However, a report has since suggested that much of the controversy may have been fuelled by bots.