Editing Ronald McNair (section)

==Music in space==
{{main|Music in space}}
McNair was an accomplished [[saxophone|saxophonist]] and [[jazz]] enthusiast.

Before his last fateful space mission, McNair worked with French composer and performer [[Jean-Michel Jarre]] on a piece of music for Jarre's then-upcoming album [[Rendez-Vous (Jean Michel Jarre album)|''Rendez-Vous'']]. It was intended that McNair would record his saxophone solo on board the ''Challenger'', which would have made McNair's solo the first original piece of music to have been recorded in space<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.synt.nu/history/|title=The history of synthpop|access-date=February 23, 2017|archive-date=March 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310074252/http://www.synt.nu/history/|url-status=dead}}</ref> (although the song "[[Jingle Bells]]" had been played on a [[harmonica]] during an earlier [[Gemini 6]] spaceflight). However, the recording was never made, as the flight [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|ended in the disaster]] and the deaths of its entire crew. The final track on ''Rendez-Vous'', "Last Rendez-Vous," has the subtitle "Ron's Piece," and the liner notes include a dedication from Jarre: "Ron was so excited about the piece that he rehearsed it continuously until the last moment. May the memory of my friend the astronaut and the artist Ron McNair live on through this piece."<ref>{{cite magazine | author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | title=Challenger 25th Anniversary Tribute Song | url=http://btw2worlds.com/challenger-tribute-song-25th-anniversary/ | magazine=Between Two Worlds | date=January 28, 2011 | access-date=June 19, 2020}}</ref> McNair was supposed to have taken part in Jarre's ''[[Rendez-vous Houston]]'' concert through a live feed from the orbiting Shuttlecraft.