Global sound project Cities and Memory has launched a new initiative called Space is the Place, collecting a variety of sounds from space.
The project has been launched to mark the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and combines 80 recordings from both NASA and the European Space Agency for the first time. There are also a number of remixed interpretations of those space sounds available which, as a press release explains, are designed to answer the question "what does space travel sound like?"
Amongst the sounds included in the collection are Apollo 11’s radio transmissions from the moon landings, space walks and alarm calls from the International Space Station, interstellar plasma and deep space “tsunami waves” recorded by NASA’s space probe Voyager, a number of rocket tests and radio emissions from Jupiter, Saturn, Ganymede and more.
80 artists from 21 countries around the world were given access to the collection to create their own interpretations of the material.
"This collection brings together the history of space travel from the first beep of Sputnik to the latest test labs for the Mars Rover – but more than that, the hopes, dreams and memories of 80 artists come to the surface in some amazing new pieces that create a whole alternative universe from the sounds of space," says Cities and Memory creator Stuart Fowkes.
Space is the Place is named in tribute to the Sun Ra album and film of the same name. You can find out more information about the initiative via the video above, and via the website. Below, you can find a playlist containing some of the archive’s original sounds as well as a selection of reinterpretations by the artists involved in the project.
Later this month, Jeff Mills will release a new album, titled Moon – The Area of Influence, to mark the 50th anniversary of the moon landings.
