On Feb. 26, the space exploration company Intuitive Machines launched their IM-2 “Freedom Payload” mission, an effort to establish a data center on the lunar south pole designed and operated by Lonestar Data Holdings. That data center was one of the payloads on the Athena moon lander, which launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the intention of searching for water ice that humans could utilize on future missions. But following a botched landing of a similar mission last year, this one ended rather anticlimactically: After touching down about 100 miles away from its intended landing location, Athena tipped over, curtailing the mission. But, depending on how you look at the situation, it wasn’t a total failure: Lonestar's Freedom Data Center remained intact, carrying eight terabytes worth of material as a backup to Earth storage. Among that material is an Imagine Dragons song.
There are a lot of excellent songs out there about the planets, the moon, and outer space. None of them are by Imagine Dragons, but not for lack of trying: Back in August 2023, they put out the song "Children Of The Sky" as part of the soundtrack to the sci-fi RPG Starfield (their fourth song for a video game). On it, frontman Dan Reynolds emphatically croons vaguely inspiring lines like, "We're children of the sky, flying up so high/ Let me be that one to find the brightest sun." Had the IM-2 mission gone according to plan, "Children Of The Sky" would've been the first song broadcast from the moon. Lonestar investor Ryan Micheletti said before the mission: "Our goal is to inspire the next generation of kids to be excited about the future of space and technology, which is why we chose 'Children of the Sky' as the first song in history to be broadcast from the moon." Nowhere is off-limits for Imagine Dragons!
Given Athena's state, it's unclear if "Children Of The Sky" and its accompanying music video can still be beamed to Earth. But at least now we can rest easy knowing that an Imagine Dragons song is safe from any natural disasters on Earth. Lonestar's material was apparently the only surviving payload from the space mission, and it's in a shell built to last "more than a millennium." "Children Of The Sky" is in good company. Last year Intuitive Machines' inaugural lander Odysseus included Quantum Aerospace's AstroVault, which includes music recordings by artists including Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and Elvis Presley.
"Success, we’re on the Moon!," wrote Starfield composer Inon Zur. "Following Athena’s touchdown on the lunar surface, our friends at Lonestar successfully transmitted ‘Children of the Sky’ song and lyrics to their data center on the Moon. The song will now be on the Moon…forever!!"
IM-2 wasn't the only SpaceX-related fail on Thursday: The company's massive Starship spacecraft exploded just minutes after lifting off from Texas. But a few days before that, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 touched down on the moon’s north-eastern near side, the first private mission to land a spacecraft on the moon upright.
Meanwhile, over the weekend, Massive Attack and the Avalanches both had their music transmitted to the moon and back as part of the Piccadilly Un:Plugged installation in London. Are they trying to steal Imagine Dragons' "Thunder"?
Success, we’re on the Moon! Following Athena’s touchdown on the lunar surface, our friends at Lonestar successfully transmitted ‘Children of the Sky’ song and lyrics to their data center on the Moon. The song will now be on the Moon…forever!! pic.twitter.com/8lxbajRR9N
— Inon Zur (@InonZur) March 7, 2025
