Americans have not been to the moon in more than four decades, but the Artemis II mission scheduled for launch today is set to send a four-person crew around the moon in another step toward landing on the lunar surface again.

You have to know by now that every occasion lends itself to a playlist, and today I was thinking, “What should the crew listen to for 10 days in space?”

This 29-song, roughly 113-minute list is hardly all-inclusive and would have to be listened to on a loop nearly 143 times to fill the soundless vacuum of space, and might drive the crew mad, but it might at least liven up lift off and splash down, and provide some solid theme music for memorable moments through the journey.

Whether the theme from “2001: A Space Odyssey,” Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” or “Dancin’ in the Moonlight” from King Harvest, there is plenty of variety for everyone.

You won’t find many playlists that manage to mash together Frank Sinatra, Jamiroquai, Neil Young, and The Police. But I can always find a connection.

There is also a bit of the obscure, plucked out of the deep darkness of eternal space with “Magic Fly” by Space, and Sun Ra’s “Space is the Place.”

We’re all fascinated by space on some level, remembering childhood fascination, historical victories, and human tragedies.

As you settle in for “The Final Countdown” and wish “The Spaceman” happy travels “Space Truckin’” around the “Darkside of the Moon,” cross your fingers that this is the kind of moment we can be proud of in human progress and exploration, and maybe it brings a spark of humanity back to how we view the future.