Many people ask me why I do music and Mars exploration at the same time. Music has played a significant role in space exploration; every time mankind makes a huge jump, music does too.
The Opportunity rover, after being 15 years exploring Meridiani Planum, was finally declared dead on February 13th 2019. Scientists and fans wept, as they had to say bye to one of the most amazing rovers in the history of Mars exploration. But, how did they send their final farewells? By singing them! Mission control send the final transmission to Opportunity, the song `I´ll be seeing you´ by Billie Holiday, a recording from 1944.
`Fly me to the Moon´, the song composed by Bart Howard in 1954 was closely associated with NASA´s Apollo space program. The song was played on a portable cassette by the astronaut Buzz Aldrin (my hero & inspiration) after he stepped on the moon. Diana Krall sang it again on the commemoration ceremony of the Mission 40th anniversary. She also sang it at the memorial service for Apollo 11 mission commander Neil Armstrong.
The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
These are just some of the latest examples of an extended history of space exploration and music, where mankind used music to connect with the universe. It all started with Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher, who in the sixth century B. C. postulated that the planets move according to mathematical equations and as a consequence resonate and produce a soundless symphony of music. He called this concept Musica Universallis (Music of the Spheres), indicating that musical intervals and harmonies describe the motions of our planets in the Solar System.
This connection between music and space really interested the astronomer Johannes Kepler, and he published Harmonices Mundi (Harmony of the Worlds). Using the relative speeds of the planets, he concluded that the Solar System was composed of two basses (Jupiter and Saturn), a tenor (Mars), two altos (Earth and Venus) and a soprano (Mercury), which all sung in perfect harmony.
The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
This resulted in a large numbers of compositions that make reference on the concepts of Musica Universallis. Composers in the 18th and 19th century had inspiration from the cosmos to write their pieces, such as Beethoven or Haydn, and most famously Holst, whose composition `The Planets´ still remains a very popular orchestral suite. Artists such as Björk, Paul McCartney or Mike Oldfield are amongst modern composers who also based their compositions based on the connection between music and space.
Now that space exploration is moving towards deep space flight missions, what would actually happen if you try to play music in a vacuum? Well, sound waves have to travel through air to produce a sound; brass instruments would not work, as you´ll need air vibrating inside the instrument to make a sound. In string instruments, the strings would vibrate but they would not make any sound. But what if you are inside a spacecraft, where there is air? In that case, your musical instrument should work and sound the same, as long as there is air. Sound waves behave the same on Earth and on microgravity; however, you may need to handle your musical instrument differently. The force you´d need to apply on your piano or the force of air emitted by an air instrument, albeit small, would be enough to move you around the shuttle. So in order to play the instrument you´d need to be hooked or fixed to avoid the force produced to push you back and forth. That´s it!
NASA has allowed the astronauts orbiting in the International Space Station to play music on board. Isn’t that amazing? This not only makes them practice but also indicates the significance of music in space, whether they are playing it or listening to it. Music makes any environment feel like home, at what a better way to feel like home than by playing music!
