Beyoncé
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Space shuttle Atlantis' astronauts were just preparing for another day of heavy lifting today (July 16), but the spaceflyers had a special morning. What made it special was the surprise wakeup message from hit R&B artist Beyonce Knowles, as mission controllers on the ground continue to evaluate the cause of a computer glitch that occurred Thursday (July 14). Atlantis' four astronauts, who are on an overnight schedule, woke up at 11:29 p.m. EDT (0329 GMT) to the song "Run the World (Girls)" by Beyonce Knowles. The singer also recorded a special message for the crew. "Good morning, Atlantis. This is Beyonce," she said. "Sandy, Chris, Doug and Rex, you inspire all of us to dare to live our dreams, to know that we're smart enough and strong enough to achieve them. This song is especially for my girl, Sandy, and all the women who've taken us to space with them and the girls who are our future explorers." "Good morning, Houston," STS-135 mission specialist Sandy Magnus replied. "A big thanks to Beyonce for taking the time out of her schedule to record us a greeting and we're ready for another day here on Atlantis and hopefully we as a team at NASA can keep our inspirational work up for the young people of America." For the astronauts, the entire day is scheduled to be spent continuing with their work to transfer and store hardware and other supplies that were brought up to the space station in Atlantis' mid-deck and inside the Raffaello module, the space.com reported. Watch the video below.