I’ve been creating an instrument with NASA's space recordings.

A while ago I heard that NASA had made all of their recording available to use as part of a Creative Commons license, so I got in contact with Bert From Nasa and asked if they would be ok if I used those sounds to create a free-to-download sampled instrument. Bert From Nasa got back to me and said that would be fine “as long as there are no human voices”. So after spending at least half an hour thinking about how oddly specific that request was and wondering what kind of non-human voices NASA have got on file, I collected my favourite recordings from their site and set to work cleaning them up, editing them for better playability, and putting them into a Kontakt instrument. The finished product is a pad containing 15 different sounds for you to mix and merge to create whatever kind of extra-terrestrial noises you like, and it’s available at Pianobook. It’s got some great reviews so far which I’m really grateful for - many thanks to all the kind people who have taken the time to review it.

Here's some background info for each of the sounds:

SUB RUMBLE - Data from the seismometer on NASA's InSight spacecraft of vibrations caused by Martian wind moving over the lander's solar panels.

SOLAR HUM - A recording of a magnitude 3.7 marsquake from InSight's seismometer, called SEIS. This quake was recorded on May 22, 2019 (the 173rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission). Far below the human range of hearing, this sonification from SEIS had to be sped up and slightly processed to be audible through headphones.

TAKEOFF GUITAR - Audio from the takeoff of SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, which is a Boeing 747SP aircraft modified to carry a 2.7-meter (106-inch) reflecting telescope.

MARS WINDS - The InSight Lander's sensors captured a haunting low rumble caused by vibrations from the wind, estimated to be blowing between 10 to 15 mph (5 to 7 meters a second) on Dec. 1, from northwest to southeast on Mars' surface.

SUN SONAR - A recording of sounds created by InSight's robotic arm as its camera scanned the surface of Mars on March 6, 2019, the 98 th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

STAR TAPDANCE - NASA's Stardust space probe passing the comet Tempel 1

EMFISIS CHIRPS - The phenomenon known as "chorus" radio waves within Earth’s magnetosphere that are audible to the human ear, as recorded on Sept. 5, 2012, by RBSP’s Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS).

KEPLER CREAK - Kepler Star KIC7671081B's Light Curve Waves converted to sound.

KEPLER CODE (tempo synced) - Kepler Star KIC12268220C's Light Curve Waves converted to sound.

SPUTNIK BEEP (tempo synced) - The beep transmitted from the Sputnik Satellite which could be picked up on short wave receiver radios.

SATURN SCREAM - These radio waves are recorded by the Cassini spacecraft’s radio and plasma instrument and and converted into audio recordings. These radio waves are closely related to the auroras near Saturn’s poles, and similar to Earth's northern and southern lights.

SATURN CLANGERS - More Saturn radio emissions recorded by Cassini.

LUMPY SPACE BUMPS - Data from the seismometer on NASA's InSight spacecraft of vibrations caused by Martian wind moving over the lander's solar panels.

SATURN SWOOP - More Saturn radio emissions.

KEPLER SIREN - Kepler Star KIC12268220C's Light Curve Waves converted to sound.

The GUI background is the interior of the space shuttle mission simulator (SMS) at NASA's Johnson Space Center. (I've added in the classic 70's Lego Space minifigure, they don't actually keep one there. Just in case you were wondering.)

Hope you enjoy the instrument!