<\/p>\n
\n\tAstronauts, as we know, are the rarest of people. Ron McNair was the rarest of astronauts.<\/p>\n
\n\tMcNair was just the second African American to fly in space, doing so in February 1984, and he was a talented artist. A jazz musician. By taking a curved soprano saxophone\u00a0aboard the\u00a0Space Shuttle Challenger STS-41B mission that year, he became the first person to play a musical instrument in space.<\/p>\n
\n\tFour decades ago, McNair was on the cusp of creating another piece of music history, by performing a sax solo that would\u2019ve resonated around the world.<\/p>\n
\n\tJean-Michel Jarre<\/a> had planned the out-of-this world performance, which would\u2019ve seen McNair play the sax part from the final track on the French electronic composer\u2019s eighth album, 1986\u2019s Rendez-Vous<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tSadly, the performance never happened. On Jan. 28, 1986, just 73 seconds after liftoff, the Challenger\u00a0shuttle exploded. None of the seven crew members survived.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cToday marks the 40th anniversary of the Challenger space shuttle tragedy,\u201d writes Jarre in a social post<\/a>. \u201cMy heart is with all the families and loved ones who continue to carry the weight of this loss.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI pay special tribute to my dear friend Ron McNair \u2013 astronaut, musician, and pioneer \u2013 who was due to perform a saxophone solo live from space as part of my Houston concert.\u201d<\/p>\n