"Blast Off!" was commissioned by Lockheed Martin for the Haddonfield Symphony for a March 2000 children?s concert with a theme about outer space. Astronaut Kenneth Reightler, who has piloted the NASA Space Shuttle twice, was the narrator. "Blast Off!" takes young listeners on a tour of outer space, bringing their imaginations into play. The script begins by asking "Have you ever looked up at a bright shiny full moon and wished you could fly to outer space?" and the tour continues with a narrative style involving the audience. The script is designed to be read by any storyteller, not necessarily an astronaut, and music-reading ability is not required. "Blast Off!" also may be used to help recognize families of the orchestra. Heartbeats on the launching pad are portrayed by the percussion section; twinkling stars are played by xylophone and glockenspiel; scurrying Martians are portrayed by woodwind octet; and so on through the piece, covering the whole orchestra.