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Interplanetary MP3s: Music of the Spheres |
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Dr. Samuel Says -
Arts & Science
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Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
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Thursday, 01 November 2007 |
As you know, I spent several years at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the early 1990s. My work there remains classified, and I've found out the hard way that the government really does not want me talking about it. But I can say that JPL is a great place to work, and a lot more fun than you might think. For instance, we fielded a formidable co-ed softball team, and would annually spank those jokers from MIT in the Astrophysicist Rec League.
 So I was clicking around the JPL website this morning when I came
across an item I thought I should share. My sense of obligation arises
not from any feeling of responsibility as a technology/gadget blogger,
but because this is the coolest fricking thing ever.
The Cassini–Huygens project is the international robotic spacecraft
mission currently studying the planet Saturn, and its rings and moons,
from orbit. The data we've received back thus far have produced some
remarkable images. Even better, the good folks at JPL have taken the
time to post several audio clips generated from Cassini–Huygens.
Of particular note are the strange and beautiful sounds of Saturn's
radio emissions. Click the appropriately-titled link "Eerie Sounds of
Saturn's Radio Emissions" and prepare to freak directly out. The astute
reader will note that you cannot actually hear raw radio signals, at
least not without some intervening consumer electronics device. But the
JPL guys have solved this by shifting the frequency of the emissions
downward by a factor of 44, and doing some heavy-duty time compression
as well. The radio waves come from Saturn's auroras, near the poles of
the planet, similar to Earth's northern and southern lights.
Sometimes I think we’re losing the sense of wonder that should
accompany our various space exploration programs. Somehow these things
get lost in the shuffle. So I have a modest proposal. Since the files
here are mostly in downloadable WAV format, I'd like to see you
enterprising young people get these clips out on MP3 and start seeding
them everywhere. For instance, they would make great samples on musical
supergadgets like the tenori-on. Wouldn't it be cool to see something
like this crack the pop culture superconsciousness? "Saturn Radio
Emissions Bump Carrie Underwood from Top Billboard Spot." Ah, well. A
guy can dream, can't he?
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