1. The Last Space Shuttle…EVER.
A space shuttle that carried supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station may not seem all that important from the outside, but the Space Shuttle Atlantis’ STS-135 mission in July of 2011 was the last time the Space Shuttle was ever used by NASA.
2. Radio Emissions from Saturn
3. Lighting on Jupiter
It may not sound like what we have on Earth, but this is lightning on Jupiter. It was captured by the Voyager space probe way back in 1979. Since then in 2012, Voyager reached interstellar space and became the farthest-travelling manmade object in history. Check out this additional clip to hear some of the sounds it captured beyond our solar system.
4. Radio Waves in Earth’s Atmosphere
Is it a flock of birds or radio waves in the atmosphere? Known as a “chorus,” these waves are emitted by energized particles found in the outer part of the gargantuan magnetic field that surrounds Earth, known as the magnetosphere.
5. Light Waves From a Star
It turns out the light wave sounds captured by the Kepler space observatory of this star kind of resemble weird ambient drone music you hear in shabby DIY loft spaces in Brooklyn. The Kepler spacecraft, which was launched in 2009, is kind of like something from the movie Interstellar (which is awesome, by the way) except from real life. Its mission is to find potentially habitable planets near the Milky Way galaxy. As of last year, Kepler has found 3,216 candidates for potential planets that may sustain life.
6. Sounds From One of Saturn’s Moons
Remember Cassini? After it was done scoping out Saturn it focused on dozens of its moons, including Enceladus, which it first passed in 2005 and sounds like this. This isn’t just some random moon though; it has a hot spot at its pole and has evidence of water beneath its surface, meaning it may hold the key to habitable planets other than earth. Enceladus might be a tight fit for everyone to move there though, the entire thing is the size of Arizona.
7. SLS Rocket Test Firings
Be sure to turn the volume down for this one. The SLS—which stands for “Space Launch System”—is the successor to the Space Shuttle and will be the most powerful rocket in history, producing 8.4 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. An unmanned mission using the SLS is scheduled for 2017, and the first manned mission is scheduled for 2021.
8. What’s a Quindar?
They're just beeps, but they’re still important ones! Those beeps you hear between radio transmissions from Mission Command and the Apollo Missions are called Quindar Tones, and are remote controls that trigger incoming and outgoing messages between the two. It’s a similar communications method used in regular walkie-talkies.
9. The First American to Experience Zero G
Astronaut John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth (and the third American in space). The giddy audio clip above is the mission communication from when Glenn experienced zero gravity for the first time. In his Friendship 7 spacecraft he would go on to orbit the Earth three times each at a whopping 17,400 miles per hour.
10. Greetings Mexico…From Space!
During the early Mercury mission, NASA set up radio tracking stations throughout the world to stay in constant contact with astronauts in orbit. This radio communication in Spanish from Mercury 7 is an “hola” to the tracking station in Guaymas in Mexico.
11. An E-Ticket to Ride
Sally Ride was the first American woman in space and the first known LGBT astronaut. In the clip above, she jokes with Mission Control about her first ascent into orbit saying “This is definitely an E-ticket,” which referred to a fast pass that Disneyland used to give out for admission to the best rides.
12. Dust It Off
You see, sometimes astronauts don’t even know what they’re doing. When Space Shuttle Columbia returned from its STS-1 mission, the first NASA flight to use the Space Shuttle, commander John Young asked the control room where to bring the Shuttle since it was the first time a spacecraft landed like a regular commercial airplane.
13. “Houston We Have a Problem,” or Do We?
There’s no question there was a problem on the infamous Apollo 13 mission when the spacecraft’s oxygen tanks exploded, leaving astronauts James Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise stranded in space before they managed to return safely to Earth. But the oft-quoted line “Houston, we have a problem,” is actually a mis-quote. Swigert initially says “Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” then Lovell repeats the line to mission control saying, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”
14. The Clock Has Started!
Astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom sure does sound like he’s having fun traveling 5,138 miles per hour on his spacecraft—nicknamed the Liberty Bell 7—during the Mercury 4 mission. It was the second manned spaceflight launched by NASA, and it was short and sweet: it lasted for only 15 minutes and 37 seconds.
15. Landing Gear
When it was operational, the space shuttle came it for a landing at an angle 7 times steeper than normal commercial flights normally do, and approaches the runway 20 times faster than normal commercial flights as well. The landing gear is deployed only 5 seconds before touchdown (as the shuttle is moving at a max speed of 226 miles per hour).
