Jim Thorne Music: Get ready "To Follow Apollo"

To Follow Apollo
Sing-Along Lyrics and Notes by Jim Thorne

1. The Stars Go By
2. The Robots Fly
3. A Spaceship for Two
4. The Little Bear
5. To Follow Apollo
6. The Countdown Song
7. Voices from the Sky

1. Lyrics for: The Stars Go By

Once we went into space to be part of a race so that people could walk on the moon
Many years have gone by, but again we will fly and return to the sky sometime soon

Can a girl fly through space to a planet? Could she pilot her spaceship and land it?
Could she fly through the sky as the stars go by,
And bring home a space pomegranate?

Many robots have flown to the greatest unknown and explored all the worlds of our sun
They have learned many things, and gone through Saturn’s rings
But there’s so much that they haven’t done

Can a boy fly through space in a rocket?
Could he learn how to steer and to dock it?
Could he fly through the sky as the stars go by,
And keep meteors in his pocket?

You could learn to fly as the stars go by and reach for the endless sky…

When the sun starts to sigh, many atoms will fly to be caught by the Earth and remain
Glowing curtains of light will extend out of sight painting colors that fall like the rain

Can the kids of the earth catch auroras? Could they have names like Tommy, or Laura?
Could they fly through the sky as the stars go by,
And catch northern lights in fedoras?

You could learn to fly as the stars go by and reach for the endless sky…

There’s a world that’s nearby with a red-colored sky and some others with ice all around
Some are big balls of gas where you’ll never see grass, since they don’t really have any ground

Can the kids of the earth reach the heavens? Could they answer the biggest of questions?
Will they fly through the sky as the stars go by,
And reach for new worlds as they beckon?

Will they fly through the sky as the stars go by,
And reach for new worlds as they beckon?

Notes about: The Stars Go By

The Space Race was a competition between the United States and the former Soviet Union to put people on the moon and bring them back safely. The NASA Apollo program was the first to do this, but both countries sent robots to the moon as well.

Girls can be astronauts! The first woman to go into space was named Valentina, and she flew in 1963.

Robots such as Mariner, Voyager, Messenger, Dawn and New Horizons have gone to visit all of the planets in our solar system, including moons and dwarf planets like Ceres.

Learning how to dock rockets in space was very important when NASA was getting ready to go to the moon. Astronauts practiced this in orbit around the earth to get ready to do the same thing around the moon.

The solar wind is made of tiny particles from the sun with an electric charge, so they can be caught in the earth’s magnetic field at the north and south poles. They glow like curtains in sky in beautiful colors, called an aurora.

The sky on Mars can be a reddish-yellow color, and Jupiter’s moon called Europa is completely covered in ice. Jupiter itself is a gas giant planet, and the atmosphere is so thick that it gradually turns into a solid as you go down, so there is no one place where the atmosphere stops and the ground begins.

NASA has found many planets around other stars, so maybe someday the people of earth will get to visit them.

2. Lyrics for: The Robots Fly

We send out the robots to be first into space
They get to set the pace and find a brand-new place
The robots are clever and they don’t need to eat
Their missions they complete in spite of cold or heat

Chorus:
Oh, the robots fly to the edge of the sky and look farther than we can see
They will learn so much, when they finally touch
The strange new worlds they might be – first to see!

The robots are powered by the light of the sun
And when that light is done they use plutonium
We try to keep talking with them by radio
But talking gets real slow the farther that they go

Chorus

The robots have been to all our planets so far
To Jupiter and Mars and someday to the stars
They help us to learn where we should go In the skies
With artificial eyes they’ll find a big surprise

Chorus

The robots have greetings that they carry along
With pictures and with songs and voices that are strong
They might come in contact with some life we could meet
Some creatures they could greet that don’t have hands or feet!

Chorus

If kids built the robots could they play videos?
And carry funny shows to share them with who knows?
If Tommy and Laura saved their stories to tell
Their memories could dwell as robots bid farewell

Chorus

Notes about: The Robots Fly

Every country that has ever explored space has sent robotic probes first. The robots have become more sophisticated over time, so now they can make their own decisions without having to wait for instructions from Earth by radio. The robots are built to withstand extreme temperatures and hard radiation environments and still get the job done.

The robotic probes that are closer to the sun than Jupiter use solar panels to create electricity to do their missions. However, if they go past the distance of Jupiter, the sun appears to be very dim and so there’s not enough sunlight for solar panels. Because the element plutonium can stay hot for many years, it can be used to create electricity for the robots that are far from the sun, such as Voyager.

Every planet has been visited by a robotic space probe, as well as the dwarf planets Ceres and Pluto. Every time people have sent robots to new places, there is always a surprising new scientific discovery.

Some robots like the Voyager probes have recordings and images on them so that if an alien race were ever to find them someday, they could learn about humans and the earth. Any alien life would most likely be very different from any life on earth, but hopefully intelligent alien beings might be able to understand our messages.

3. Lyrics for: A Spaceship for Two

Tommy took a look around, at the sky and at the ground
He began to think about what he could see
Clouds float up but rain falls down, diamonds form beneath the ground
Many things exist because of gravity

Tommy’s rocket was a blast; Laura’s ship was very fast and together they could go so very far
They combined all that they knew and they built a ship for two
And someday they might just reach another star

There is science everywhere, on the land and in the air
Tommy learned to see the patterns big and small
He designed fast planes and cars, but he looked up at the stars
He built rockets to explore and see them all

Laura loved to watch planes fly, as they streaked across the sky
She began to learn to take off and be free
She flew gliders, then fast jets and took people and their pets
To the edge of space to float in zero gee

Who can say, what they’ll learn today to help them on their way…

Laura learned to fly in space, it became her favorite place
Tommy left the earth behind to go explore
There was so much they could see in the realm of mystery
Many moons and planets led them to much more

Notes about: A Spaceship for Two

Things that are lighter than air will float, and objects buried deep in the earth can experience great pressures. Coal can be turned into diamonds in this way. In each case, this is caused by the earth’s gravity affecting objects of different densities.

Nature can be described by science, and the most important skill for any scientist is to be able to observe and model the patterns that exist in nature. There are many different kinds of patterns, and scientists can describe the patterns with mathematical models to increase our understanding of the universe.

Tommy and Laura had to learn enough math and science to allow them to become pilots and build their own spaceships. If they work together, they might be able build a better ship to explore space, and maybe visit another star someday.

4. Lyrics for: The Little Bear

On one clear and cloudless night stars were shining oh-so bright
Kids went out to look up at the sky
They saw creatures great and small then began to name them all
One looked like a horse with wings to fly

They saw the constellations with their imaginations
And used the brightest stars that they could see
The North Star showed the Little Bear; they searched across the sky from there
To find where other animals could be

High above the Little Bear, Eagles soared up in the air
Tommy saw a Bull with starry eyes
Down below a Dragon slept Snakes upon their bellies crept
Laura saw a Goat climb up a rise

Out in front of Little Bear they saw Lions lying there
One beside another in a row Ponies ran behind the Bear
Fish were swimming in a pair; Rams were charging up a mountain slope

We can see the pictures in the sky if we use the twinkle in our eyes…

Tall Giraffes went striding by, Lynxes leapt up in the sky
Laura saw the Dogs begin to run
When the sun began to rise, creatures faded from their eyes
Tommy said, “That was a lot of fun!”

Notes about: The Little Bear

Ever since ancient times, people have looked up at stars in the night sky and used their imaginations to see many kinds of patterns. The brightest stars stand out and can appear to form pictures. However, the constellations we recognize today are different than what ancient people imagined, since they were only familiar with what was in their own environment at the time. Also, the stars actually move very slowly relative to each other in the sky, so the constellations will change shape over thousands of years to look very different in the past and the future.

Often, constellations are used as references to help astronomers to find a particular star. Sailors use the stars for navigation at night. A scientist named Galileo was the first to make a telescope designed to look at the stars and planets. He discovered the largest moons of Jupiter, arcs of light around Saturn that turned out to be bright rings, the phases of Venus and even sunspots.

It takes a lot of imagination to see a picture in the sky based on just a few stars, but it’s fun to try! Animals are a popular subject, and there are many of them that are recognized today by astronomers. There are fourteen animals mentioned in the song – can you find them all?

5. Lyrics for: To Follow Apollo

Long ago we flew the lunar missions to explore
Since that one small step we haven’t been there anymore
Robots fly out to the moon and circle round and round
But kids could land their spaceships there and walk upon the ground

To follow Apollo, around the moon they flew
To find some reminders of spaceships and their crew

Tommy did a survey of the landing sites of old
Laura found some clues by reading stories that were told
They began to make a plan to visit landing sites
And see the famous places all before the lunar night

To follow Apollo, around the moon they flew
To find some reminders of spaceships and their crew

Astronauts went to the moon and landed there six times
Every place was different – they found rocks of many kinds
There were three more missions planned, but never got to fly
So now the kids could finish what Apollo dared to try

To follow Apollo, around the moon they flew
To find some reminders of spaceships and their crew

They came in peace for all mankind
And made their mark for kids to find

First they found six places where some history was made
Looking from a distance, they could see the way things stayed
Then they planted flags in three more places on the moon
And finished for Apollo what had ended far too soon

To follow Apollo, around the moon they flew
To find some reminders of spaceships and their crew

Notes about: To Follow Apollo

In 1961, the president of the United States, John Kennedy, set a goal of sending people to the moon and returning them safely to the earth before 1970. This was an enormously difficult and expensive project known as Apollo, and it was ultimately successful since the first moon landing happened on July 20th, 1969 with the crew of Apollo 11. At the same time, the former Soviet Union was trying to send people to the moon, but they only got as far as landing a robotic rover on the lunar surface.

After the last lunar landing mission, Apollo 17, the program was canceled even though there were three more missions that were originally planned. Apollo 18, 19 and 20 would have landed in three more interesting places on the moon.

The rockets had already been built for those last three missions, but they were used for other purposes including a small space station called Skylab. The rocket, known as the Saturn-V, was the largest rocket ever built. Perhaps someday people will build rockets like that again, so that future explorers can return to the moon and go beyond.

6. Lyrics for: The Countdown Song

Tommy took his rocket all the way to Mercury
Laura flew her spaceship down to find a mystery
Metal bits were scattered on the ground beneath her feet
Tommy said, “That’s MESSENGER, a mission now complete”

10-9-8, 7-6-5, 4-3-2-1-Go!
10-9-8, 7-6-5, 4-3-2-1-Go!

After they went searching for some pieces of the past
Tommy noticed something wrong and then he looked aghast
When his rocket landed it came down on bumpy ground
It began to tilt and make a funny creaking sound

10-9-8, 7-6-5, 4-3-2-1-Go!
10-9-8, 7-6-5, 4-3-2-1-Go!

With the rocket leaning it would never reach the sky
They would need to figure out a way to make it fly
Laura used her ship to pull the rocket straight and true
Tommy filled the craters so the ground was level, too

10-9-8, 7-6-5, 4-3-2-1-Go!
10-9-8, 7-6-5, 4-3-2-1-Go!

When they work together they could solve most anything
All they needed was the time to think of everything
With some help from Laura and some rocks to fill the trough
Tommy now was ready for his rocket to take off

Time for the Countdown to begin…

10-9-8, 7-6-5, 4-3-2-1-Go!
10-9-8, 7-6-5, 4-3-2-1-Go!

Notes about: The Countdown Song

When people launch rockets, they go through a countdown as a checklist to make sure everything is ok to go. The countdown to launch can start many hours or days ahead of the appointed time, but usually you will only hear the last ten seconds being counted out loud. This is why the chorus of the song starts at ten and goes down to one. When the count reaches zero, it’s time for the rocket to go!

MESSENGER was a real robotic space probe that went to Mercury. The name stands for “MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging” It was complicated to get it into orbit around Mercury, but some very skilled people were able to navigate MESSENGER by remote control to do this. It took several years and multiple planetary flybys to get it to Mercury, but the mission was very successful.

After taking many pictures and other scientific observations, eventually MESSENGER was deliberately crashed into the surface of Mercury so the pieces are still there. Someday, perhaps people to could go to Mercury and find them!

7. Lyrics for: Voices from the Sky

If we heard a single word far away from space
We might hear loud and clear from another race
Maybe we could learnvhow to speak to them in turn
And locate their home and birthplace

Could it be that we’ll see how they like to live?
Will we find that they’re kind? Could they want to give?
Maybe we could build an agreement of good will
And find that we’re all relatives

We’d be first to try Learning lhow to fly
All the way out to the Voices from the Sky

Tommy knew what to do; Laura made a plan
They could draft a mighty craft built to fly and land
It would go so far out to find the voice’s star
And make a great leap for all man

We’d be first to try Learning lhow to fly
All the way out to the Voices from the Sky

If we were travelers to another star
We would be quick to see on a trip so far
Everything on Earth would be doubled in its worth
But home is the place where we are

We’d be first to try Learning lhow to fly
All the way out to the Voices from the Sky

Notes about: Voices from the Sky

For many years, people have been looking and listening to the stars for signs of alien life. The organization called the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, or SETI, has been monitoring radio signals from the stars to find any indication of patterns, rather than just random radio static.

If we were ever to receive a signal with a clear message from out in space, we might be able to communicate with an alien race, although it would take a long time. The distances to other stars are so large that it could take hundreds or thousands of years for radio signals to go back and forth between them and the earth. This is because radio signals travel at the speed of light which is very fast, but still takes a long time to travel the vast distances between the stars.

Maybe someday, people might learn to build spaceships that could travel faster than the speed of light and be able to visit other stars within a person’s normal lifetime. If so, perhaps people could travel to live on planets around other stars, and even find alien life!

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