‘Space music’ heard from dark side of Moon
|Published
during that hour while they were passing round the far side of the moon, a recorder in their module taped their conversation as they talked about hearing the 'outer spacey' sounds through their radio. Picture: AFP during that hour while they were passing round the far side of the moon, a recorder in their module taped their conversation as they talked about hearing the 'outer spacey' sounds through their radio. Picture: AFP
London - Astronauts heard a mysterious whistling sound while orbiting the far side of the Moon which they described as “weird music”, hidden Nasa recordings have revealed.
The crew of Apollo 10, the fourth manned mission in the US space programme and a “dress rehearsal” for the first Moon landing two months later in 1969, were out of radio contact with Earth at the time.
But during that hour while they were passing round the far side of the moon, a recorder in their module taped their conversation as they talked about hearing the “outer spacey” sounds through their radio.
After they returned safely to Earth, their conversation was transcribed by the space agency. But the transcripts were then consigned to the Nasa archives without comment and classified.
undefinedAt one point, the baffled Apollo 10 astronauts can be heard discussing whether they should tell Nasa about the mysterious sounds or not. “The music even sounds outer-spacey, doesn’t it?” asked one. Another commented: “You hear that? That whistling sound? Whooooooooo!” “Well, that sure is weird music,” his companion agreed.
They also described the sounds as “unbelievable”. One is heard to ask: “Shall we tell them about it?”
Even after it was declassified, the transcript lay undiscovered in Nasa’s archives until 2008. Now it has resurfaced in the upcoming third season of Science Channel’s series Nasa’s Unexplained Files.
Planetary scientist Kevin Grazier told the show the Cassini spacecraft which reached Saturn in 2004 picked up similar broadcasts caused by charged particles moving through Saturn’s magnetic environment. He added, however: “The Moon doesn’t have an atmosphere or a magnetic field so you wouldn’t expect it to be making any broadcasts that could be picked up on a radio.”
As the Moon is constantly rotating on its own axis, there is no area of it in permanent darkness, despite the popular phrase – and Pink Floyd 1973 hit album title – the dark side of the moon.
Daily Mail