Can you play a vinyl in zero gravity?
Famous science fiction author Arthur C Clarke was asked whether he believes aliens are real on multiple occasions. One of his most famous answers lives on in intergalactic studies and research papers to this day, where he said, “Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying”.
Science fiction writers aren’t the only people to ponder whether or not there is life on other planets. One person who was constantly confronted by the idea that we are not alone in the universe was Ahmed Abdullah, the trumpeter for the famous musician Sun Ra. While Sun Ra is renowned for his contribution to jazz music, he is also remembered as the one who genuinely believed he was from another planet.
The musician didn’t hide his beliefs, as the first time Abdullah arrived to rehearse with the band, Sun Ra prepared him for the music to sound different from what he expected. He encouraged people to play different rhythms and keys, even if it didn’t sound pleasant, as he believed that when the music didn’t line up, it was because the band were receiving signals from another world.
At first, Abdullah wasn’t convinced of Sun Ra’s origin story and merely entertained the notion to earn his place in the band. However, the more time he spent with the musician, and the more he was subject to his genius, kindness and innovation, he started to think that if someone from another planet visited Earth, surely it would make sense that they were a musician.
“It makes sense to me that if the Creator sent anyone here, it would be a person who had mastered music, the planet’s universal language,” he said. “Sound is the beginning of all creation, the Nomma, the Om, and the Nam that direct our lives, the basis for what Sun Ra called a ‘Sound Government’.”
Abdullah isn’t alone in his assessment, either. It seems that scientists also believe music could be a good way to bridge the communication gap between other life forms, if they’re out there. Now, it is one thing to send out an album into space in the hope that other beings might stumble across it; however, they also needed to be able to play the album once it was received.
This meant scientists had to ask the question: “Can you play a vinyl in zero gravity?”. Short answer, yes. Then there’s the how of it.
So, how do you play a vinyl in zero gravity?
The first thing that’s important is the material of the vinyl. We make them out of plastic, but this wouldn’t work in space because of the way the record would expand when exposed to unfiltered sunlight like that. It would expand to the point where the grooves would be rendered inefficient. Hence, it was found that the record needed to be made out of a metal that can handle the various pressures of being in space, and scientists landed on gold to stop it from expanding so much.
Naturally, a computer is also needed, which can detect turbulence and stop it from playing when things get rough. This is very important for when the record is caught in the upper layers of the atmosphere. If there is too much agitation during the journey, the needle won’t scratch and, in turn, damage the disc. Finally, the record needs to be locked into place so that it will still spin when in zero gravity.
This study led to sending a gold-plated record out into space, with the intention of showing any life beyond the planet how Earth sounded. And the Voyager Golden Record was crafted.
…and what is the Voyager Golden Record?
Taking the shape of a 12-inch vinyl, the Voyager Golden Record contained a number of different pieces of information that would give other lifeforms a somewhat cohesive idea of what Earth is like. It contained images, a variety of natural sounds, music from various genres, and greetings in a number of different languages.
However, the Voyager only inspired elements of the success story; it was Jack White (and a team of scientists) who actually achieved the feat of successfully playing the first record in space, a gold pressing of Carl Sagan’s ‘A Glorious Dawn’.
