David Bowie's death has plunged fans around the world into grief, but his music lives on—not only on Earth but in space.
For astronauts and ordinary people who gaze into the mystery of the sky, Bowie was one of their own, fascinated by the possibilities of the universe.
From "Space Oddity" to "Starman" and "Life on Mars," Bowie's lyrics echoed into space over the decades.
"And the stars look very different today," NASA tweeted after Bowie's shock death on Sunday at age 69 following a secret struggle with cancer.
The quotation was from Bowie's breakthrough hit "Space Oddity" which was released in 1969—the year of the first moon landing.
Bowie took on the alter ego of Ziggy Stardust, the androgynous rock-and-roll messenger for extraterrestrials.
"RIP David Bowie," said NASA, tweeting a link to the 2013 "Space Oddity" version by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, sung weightless aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Hadfield's version was an Internet sensation, clocking up more than 28 million YouTube hits—and counting.
Bowie once posted on Facebook to say that the cover was "possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created."
"When I sang it and listened to my voice it kind of surprised me," Hadfield told the BBC on Monday.
"It was somehow as if he (Bowie) had recognized what it was going to be like (in space) and his words somehow sort of transcended it a little bit. I could almost feel what he'd been thinking just when I sang it in that place."
After news of Bowie's death became public, Hadfield riffed in a tweet on the words of another of Bowie's hits: "Ashes to ashes, dust to stardust."
"Your brilliance inspired us all. Goodbye Starman," he added, poignantly.
'Fellow space traveler'
It did not take long for Bowie's death to reach the International Space Station.