 Music Historic events, symbols that capture the energy, emotion, and drama of America's aeronautics and space program have been the essence of 26 years of art, generated by artists who have had an opportunity to experience these events firsthand. NASA's art program continued this tradition recently by commissioning a musician for the first time, along with several other artists. Their assignment documented the return to flight of the space shuttle. Artists sketched, photographed, and even sampled sounds during the launch and landing of shuttle Discovery, collecting ideas for what later became detailed brushstrokes for illustrator Wendell Miner. Died fabric for Angela Mano, or a montage of airbrushed impressions for Michael Kenegan. In all, six artists, steeped in various traditions, took in the shuttle experience and created images that depict America's return to space. The seventh artist, Jane Ira Bloom, captured her impressions in music. Jane is a New York-based soprano saxophonist and composer, and has been a space enthusiast for many years. She enjoys writing music about events that visually inspire and challenge her. How could I communicate the feeling without pointing to it, without actually saying, here's what a launch sounds like, how could I make people feel what you feel like when you hear it? As part of the process, Jane spent time rehearsing ideas with fellow artists in New York. Early on, Jane realized that she didn't want to approach the music as a pure synthesizer school. Instead, she found other forms of expression. I think it's a greater challenge to find new sounds and to find even new uses of live electronics impelled by the players, impelled by the people. Because I started to see when the musicians got involved in experimenting with this Doppler-like spinning idea, suddenly the music took on a life of its own because the musicians embraced it and made it come alive. In jazz, we say the bandstand starts to rise. Jane spent hours writing in her studio, preparing for a live concert at NASA's Chinese Space Center in Florida. It was performed exactly one year after the space shuttle's return of flight and included the traditional unveiling of art from the program. It was a movement of sights and sound, one in which art and technology combine to express an appreciation for America's return to space.