In Brief

Space Celebrities Sing in Final Episode of 'Colbert Report'

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TV personality Stephen Colbert ended his final episode of Comedy Central's "Colbert Report" with a truly epic celebrity sing-along featuring more than a few space-themed surprises. Colbert and his celebrity cohorts performed their rendition of "We'll Meet Again" as a sendoff Thursday (Dec. 18) as Colbert moves on to host the Late Show on CBS. See the full 8-minute video below:

NASA astronaut and current International Space Station crewmember Terry Virts, a NASA astronaut, joined in on the star-studded sing-along from space. He sang his part while running on the space station's treadmill, a piece of equipment with special meaning for Colbert. The treadmill is actually called the COLBERT (short for Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill), named for the TV host after fans won a NASA poll to name a new space station module for the comedian. NASA didn't name the module after Colbert, but he did get the treadmill instead. The piece of exercise equipment launched to the station on Space Shuttle Discovery in 2009.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" director J.J. Abrams sings for Stephen Colbert during the final episode of the "Colbert Report" on Dec. 18.

Other space celebrities also sang their hearts out for Colbert too. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" director J.J. Abrams sang along with the iconic "Star Wars" scrolling introduction text scrolling behind him. Actor Patrick Stewart (who played "Star Trek: The Next Generation" captain Jean-Luc Picard) also sang for Colbert. Astrophysicist and science superstar Neil deGrasse Tyson, "Star Wars" creator George Lucas and astronaut Garrett Reisman also joined in on the sing-along fun.

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Miriam Kramer
Miriam Kramer
Staff Writer

Miriam Kramer joined Space.com as a Staff Writer in December 2012. Since then, she has floated in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight, felt the pull of 4-Gs in a trainer aircraft and watched rockets soar into space from Florida and Virginia. She also served as Space.com's lead space entertainment reporter, and enjoys all aspects of space news, astronomy and commercial spaceflight.  Miriam has also presented space stories during live interviews with Fox News and other TV and radio outlets. She originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee where she and her family would take trips to dark spots on the outskirts of town to watch meteor showers every year. She loves to travel and one day hopes to see the northern lights in person. Miriam is currently a space reporter with Axios, writing the Axios Space newsletter. You can follow Miriam on Twitter.