There are a lot of space men who are angry with Beyonce.
Her new video for XO features audio taken just after the Challenger broke apart in 1986. 'Flight controllers here looking very carefully at the situation. Obviously a major malfunction,' a NASA public affairs official said as wreckage fell toward earth on live TV.
But on Monday the 32-year-old defended her use of the clip in a statement to ABC News: 'The song XO was recorded with the sincerest intention to help heal those who have lost loved ones.'
Not making friends: In Beyonce's XO video an audio clip taken after the Challenger exploded in 1986 is used, which has angered NASA members and families of the astronauts that perished
The Halo singer added the reference should 'remind us that unexpected things happen,' so people should 'love and appreciate every minute that you have with those who mean the most to you.'
She also said, 'My heart goes out to the families of those lost in the Challenger disaster.'
Her statement ended with: 'The songwriters included the audio in tribute to the unselfish work of the Challenger crew with hope that they will never be forgotten.'
Her response: On Monday the singer apologized in a statement to ABC News after being called 'insensitive'
The Challenger exploded 73 seconds after taking off from the Kennedy Space Center Jan. 28, 1986. All seven crew members aboard were killed.
ABC News reported 'former and current NASA astronauts, employees and Challenger family members argue that using it in a pop song mocks the crew's sacrifice and opens fresh wounds.'
June Scobee Rodgers, the widow of Challenger Space Shuttle Commander Dick Scobee and a founder of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, told ABC News she was not happy.
'We were disappointed to learn that an audio clip from the day we lost our heroic Challenger crew was used in the song XO,' she said.
At the top of her game: The Texan looked lovely on December 21 at her album release party in NYC
'The moment included in this song is an emotionally difficult one for the Challenger families, colleagues and friends,' she added.
'We have always chosen to focus not on how our loved ones were lost, but rather on how they lived and how their legacy lives on today.'
Keith Cowing, a former NASA employee who now runs the NASAWatch.com website, said, 'This choice of historic and solemn audio is inappropriate in the extreme.'
He is asking that the Texan remove the clip and apologize to families of the Challenger crew.
The song XO - written and produced by Ryean Tedder and Terius Nash, also known as The Dream - is about loving while you can.
The video features the Sasha Fierce entertainer running through an amusement park with two friends.
They laugh as they ride roller coasters together and meet strangers.
The lyrics include: 'Your love is bright as ever/ Even in the shadows/ Baby kiss me/ Before they turn the lights out/ Your heart is glowing/ And I'm crashing into you.'
The wife of Jay-Z also sings, 'We don't have forever/ Baby daylight's wasting.'
Oddly, Beyonce has worked with NASA in the past: She recorded a wake-up announcement for the orbiting crew of the STS-135 shuttle flight
Always partying: On Friday Beyonce's husband Jay-Z (far right) had his arm around The Game, who was one of the writers on XO
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