Over 400 songs carried to space with Blue Origin
For as long as I can remember, I have loved space and music.
Like many others throughout history, I have drawn inspiration by looking up and dreaming. To this day, every time I walk outside and see the Moon, I stop to take it in and wonder what it would be like to be up there. Every time. It never gets boring, no matter how many times I see it. Growing up in Australia with crystal clear skies, I was dazzled and awed by the brilliant stars, and the Milky Way as it inked its way across the night. My parents nurtured my love of space, buying me a telescope for Christmas (one of the best surprise Christmas presents ever!)
I have also loved music, and as a teenager escaped into many auditory “other worlds” created by the musicians I adore and emulated. David Bowie, of course, and Pink Floyd and perhaps the greatest, Beethoven and his 9th Symphony.
Flying to space has been a lifelong goal of mine, but when I was growing up Australia had no space industry. My first hope was to follow the proven path of becoming a pilot and then transferring to NASA, so when I was 17, I applied to the Australian Defense Force Academy. Little did I know, I was partly colour blind (colour deficient is the preferred term!) and I was disqualified during the admissions tests. Strangely, I don’t recall being sad about it for more than a few days, because walking out of the testing center that day I resolved to get myself to space any way I could.
27 years years later, I have finally realised that promise to myself. On Oct 13 I flew to space as a passenger in Blue Origin’s NS-18 mission, also know as the Second Human Flight (2HF). Thinking back now I wonder what would have happened if I’d given up after 10 years, or decided 25 years was long enough and it was time to find something else to do. When you really believe in something, how long is long enough? It turns out, success might always be just around the corner. If you love what you are doing, just keep doing it. Dreams are Enough.
When I announced my participation in the flight the week before launch Mikel Ross, a fellow San Francisco musician, casually asked me if I would take any music to space. That sparked an idea and a now legendary reddit thread. After being reposted nearly 100 times, I was receiving a song every 2 minutes for almost 2 days straight. In the end I collected over 400 songs.
Supporting Musack: Spreading music around the world
Needing a very special device to load this music on, I managed to find a Starfleet insignia-shaped USB drive on ebay. There was one new-in-box item left available for sale and so I bought it the spot and shipped it overnight. I loaded the songs up and tucked it into my 1.5 kg cargo back and off to space it went! You can hear the project mentioned in the official livestream of the launch just after landing
The USB key will be donated to the wonderful music opportunity creator Musack, to be auctioned at their next fundraising event. Musack’s mission is to give kids and teens a voice through music by providing guitars, drums, and support for music teachers – wherever the need arises.
Read about Musack’s visit to the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre in Australia, where they donated guitars to a group of young children that many consider to have run out of options. For many there, music is their only escape.
In addition to the songs I received, may people wrote touching emails. I was surprised how many people also love space and music! Here are some of their messages:
As an artist, I reflect on possible futures, trans-humanisms and post-internet. So this idea of sounding in space would be a dream come true
Antonio
I’m a bit of a space nut and it’s always been my dream to go to space so this in an incredibly exciting opportunity. I might not be able to go to space in person, but at least my voice and instruments can! And also thank you for your work at NASA, I can’t tell you enough how much NASA has inspired me over the years.
Andrew
This is a song that reminds us that no matter how hard things may get– you’ve been through so much and you’re still here. You are in our thoughts as you prepare for your launch– congratulations!
Shelby
Just the thought that my music floats around There Somewhere gives me the chills.
Ilkka
This song is called “Colors” and the lyrics were written with AI (neural networks). It is a representation of where music is headed. I think it would be cool to send this to space because as we reach new frontiers in music, we are simultaneously exploring new frontiers in our existence of mankind.
Kristian
I’m a 17-year-old producer and space nerd who also runs an Astronomy club in school. It would be super amazing for my music to go to space.
Vu
I’m a fellow NASA engineer, currently working as a test conductor at Goddard Space Flight Center. And I’ve loved music my whole life, so this is a really neat combination of the two!
Andrew
Listen to the full play list here [listen on soundcloud] (note: not every track I was sent is available on soundcloud. If you sent me a song and later add it to soundcloud, email me and I’ll update the playlist)
Coda
In the end, flying to space was a life changing experience for me. To my greatest surprise I flew to space with auspicious company, and William Shatner and I are still each unpacking what this was all about, and still learning how we can use our experience to be agents of change for a positive world. But one thing is certain, carrying your music to space was an honour. A sizeable fraction of people sent in music that was not online, was sacred, or private for their own reasons, or simply not ready for the world at large. It took courage to send your precious and beloved creations to a stranger on the internet – and so I am grateful for your trust. Knowing that in some way this has inspired you makes it all worthwhile. My only ask of you is to share a small part of the joy you received from this project with those around you.
See the full list of tracks that I carried to space. Watch the launch here, including the coolest audio sample ever: “Astronaut Chrispy, how do you read?”/”Astronaut Chrispy is ready for launch!”
Per aspera ad astra
Dr Chrispy