Astronaut covers Bowie on the International Space Station

Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield has released a cover of David Bowie's Space Oddity to commemorate his departure from the International Space Station.

The cover version and its spectacular accompanying video were made while Commander Hadfield orbited Earth, and makes the average music video look utterly rubbish.

The social media savvy spaceman has built a huge following online thanks to his regular updates from the International Space Station, and with the help of his Larrivée Parlor acoustic has been working on the first album to be written and recorded in space.

Using a laptop loaded with Cakewalk and a pair of Shure mics, the Commander Hadfield has already performed one space-written song entitled I.S.S. (Is Someone Singing) alongside Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies, and plans to release a full record upon his return.

Check out how a Larrivée acoustic came to be floating around Earth in the first place, as well as what it's like to play guitar in space, in the video below: