Written in memorial to the late crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, "Contact Lost" is the poignant finale of the Deep Purple's 2003 CD Bananas. The group was in the studio recording the album when the spacecraft was destroyed. The ship's crew were killed during orbital re-entry on February 1, 2002.
Following the disaster, it came to light that mission specialist Kalpana Chawla was a fan of the group. The India-born Chawla carried three of the band's CDs with her on the mission --- the classic Machine Head, Purpendicular and Down to Earth -- she awoke to the sound of "Space Truckin'" every morning, and even exchanged e-mails with the band while in space. "Contact" is a touching tribute; complex, beautiful and brief, not unlike the Columbia crew's time with us.
