Space Night
Encyclopedia
Space Night is the name
of a German television program of the Bayerischer Rundfunk
Bayerischer Rundfunk
Bayerischer Rundfunk [Bavarian Broadcasting] is the public broadcasting authority for the German Freistaat of Bavaria, with its main offices located in Munich. BR is a member of ARD.- Legal foundation :...

 (BR). It is a mixture of
chill-out-music and images of the earth as seen from space interspersed with informative broadcasts.

History

Space Night started in 1994 as an alternative to the test card
Test card
A test card, also known as a test pattern in North America and Australia, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active but no program is being broadcast...

 that was broadcast on BR at night
until this time. The idea originated in the fact that the German satellite ASTRO-SPAS (see STS-80
STS-80
-Mission parameters:* Mass: payload* Perigee: * Apogee: * Inclination: 28.5°* Period: 91.5 min-Mission highlights:* The mission deployed two satellites and successfully recovered them after they had performed their tasks....

) had recorded many hours of video footage. The BR edited this material and added downtempo
Downtempo
Downtempo is a laid-back electronic music style similar to ambient music, but usually with a beat or groove unlike the beatless forms of Ambient music. The beat is sometimes made from loops that have a hypnotic feeling...

 music.
They didn't want to show the same pictures 7 days a week so NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 and ESA were asked to
provide more footage, which they did.

Cult status and music

The broadcast quickly turned into a cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...

, at rave
Rave
Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...

s in the mid-90s it wasn't unusual to show the images of Space Night on big tv-screens. Early in the morning after the rave it was often used to calm down, especially from 1996 and later as Alex Azary (a European chill-out-DJ) provided more electronic background music. This was a logical step that originated from Alex Azary because he headed the Club XS in Frankfurt where this type of music was played and Space Night was shown (albeit the playback was a little bit slower than in the original program). The images did fit well to the new music-genre and Alex thought it would be a good idea to show it to the people at the BR. A meeting in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 followed where he could convince them to try something new. The soundtrack is available on CD, the mixing from volume 2 and on is done by the German music label Elektrolux. A DVD titled Best of Earth-Views is also available.

Moon landing

Since the 25th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon
Moon landing
A moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both manned and unmanned missions. The first human-made object to reach the surface of the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2 mission on 13 September 1959. The United States's Apollo 11 was the first manned...

 the original
version of the broadcast of the ARD
ARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...

 is shown at the exact time of the original
airing.

Perry Rhodan

At the 40th anniversary of the Perry Rhodan
Perry Rhodan
Perry Rhodan is the name of a science fiction series published since 1961 in Germany, as well as the name of the main character. It is a space opera, dealing with several themes of science fiction. Having sold over one billion copies worldwide, it is the most successful science fiction book series...

 series in 2001 there was a 'Perry Rhodan-Space Night'. Cover art
Cover art
Cover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...

by the artist Johnny Bruck (who produced the cover artwork for Perry Rhodan) was shown with modern techniques to animate still pictures, there were galaxies, planets, spaceplanes, men und aliens - a visual journey through the Perry Rhodan universe with the known music of Space Night. Following the broadcast, which was repeated for several weeks, a dvd with the title space night presents: Perry Rhodan 40th Anniversary - Special Sci-Fi Edition and a double album with the music was created.

External links

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