For Hubble’s 30th anniversary, Méndez conceived of a musical tribute more than five-minutes long that would follow the arc of the telescope’s stellar history. When the $3 billion instrument was launched by NASA three decades ago, things did not go to plan. Due to a flawed mirror, initial images were blurry — a national letdown that landed at least two despondent astrophysicists in rehab and sparked rumors of the space agency’s imminent demise. But, after a manual repair mission completed by astronauts in 1993, the telescope began documenting the wonders of the cosmos and providing an invaluable window into the universe. Helped by four subsequent repair missions, it has been captivating the world ever since.

“This is a comeback story, so that’s the way I wrote the music,” said Méndez, who composed her piece using digital instruments via a DAW, or digital audio workstation. “When things are not going well, you can’t use a flute, because it has a certain playful, misty tone. Instead, I chose to put low brass notes in there, which can be used to portray heroic characters but also something darker. When the Hubble makes its comeback, that’s when the tone is uplifting.” 

The blending of these two passions — chords and cosmos — might strike some as unusual. But the interests may not be all that far removed.

“What I find so fascinating about space is that there’s more beyond what we can see,” Méndez said. “Music is like that, too. Yes, it’s just a bunch of notes on a page, but there is more beyond what we can see and hear. The more you listen to a piece, the deeper you go, the more you discover. Both space and music allow us to tap into the unknown.”

Both pursuits also spark curiosity. The Hubble telescope may be expanding humanity’s knowledge of outer space — fundamentally changing our understanding of black holes, for instance — but it is also raising new lines of inquiry about the cosmos and our place in them.

“In music, that’s also the case,” Méndez said. “Try to figure out why a composer made a certain choice and, no matter how much you analyze, you often come away with more questions than answers.”

So what is the final frontier for this star-minded musician? Some day, she’d like to compose movie scores — space related or earthbound. She said she knows this will mean a lifetime of learning, since neither space nor music are fields anyone can ever truly master.

“That’s the exciting part,” Méndez said. “Even after I graduate from UD — even after I’m a full-grown adult — I’ll always be a student.”