“Fake Plastic Trees” woke the crew of Columbia

The Blue Team crew of the lost space shuttle Columbia woke to “Fake Plastic Trees” on flight day 5 of STS-107, Green Plastic report. By tradition, flight controllers at Mission Control choose a piece of music to wake the crew each morning of a mission. At the end of the song they dedicated it to the pilot, William C. McCool, who replied that Radiohead were his favourite group. NASA's page of the mission's wake-up calls has the recording.

McCool, a US Navy commander born in San Diego in 1961, was selected by NASA in 1996, and Columbia was his first flight. His NASA biography lists playing guitar among his interests. On flight day 10 the Blue Team woke to “Hotel California”, performed by his family.