Nasa’s tribute to Vangelis, the musician whose inspirational score for the film Chariots of Fire propelled him to stardom as an avant-garde composer of immense depth and sophistication, was short and intimate.

‘Ad astra, Vangelis’ (Latin for “to the star”), tweeted the National Aeronautics and Space Administration after his death was announced on Tuesday to acknowledge the many scores the Greek composer had contributed to its space explorations.

The tweet was accompanied by a video of NASA’s Juno spacecraft’s mission to Jupiter. It is a composition of rousing ambitions anchored in humility. The sheer expanse of the synth symphony is characteristic Vangelis. He is at once overwhelmed, as we all are, at the timelessness of space. But then there’s a bow _ in loving tribute to man’s eternal quest for the unknown.