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Space Science

NASA's Playlist for the Mars Rover Mission 30

Posted by michael from the crank-it-up-a-notch dept.
TaddyPorter writes "'It has become somewhat of a NASA tradition that during missions to space a wake-up song is played at the beginning of each day's mission.' Over at atsnn.com a NASA Mars mission manager contributed their playlist. What's even more interesting is what song has been played and why, for instance, when NASA lost communications S.O.S by ABBA was played and when the system experienced a flash problem the Flash Gordon theme song by Queen was used."
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NASA's Playlist for the Mars Rover Mission More

NASA's Playlist for the Mars Rover Mission

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  • HMMMMMMM (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Ummagumma ( 137757 ) on Monday February 23, 2004 @11:52AM (#8362984) Journal
    I wonder if they keep such a diverse collection of music on legally-bought CDs, or just Kazaa for the song of the day?

    • Most likely people just bring in their CD's. I highly doubt NASA itself actually owns them, but rather the various employees do.
      • Yeah but wouldn't they be required to pay the RIAA for broadcasting these songs? And is there rate increased because of the "potential" number of listeners NASA could be broadcasting too?

        Just what I want to do is have my tax dollars given to the RIAA because NASA broadcasts songs.

        • Re:HMMMMMMM (Score:3, Funny)

          by flewp ( 458359 )
          Actually, maybe NASA could tell the RIAA that the licenses are on the rovers and that they'll send the RIAA reps up there to investigate.... Given the number of failures of Mars missions, I think it's a good idea....
    • All legal, of course. Some from CDs, some, actually quite a few purchased on iTunes Music Store. All personally bought by team members. I brought in my own speakers--NASA doesn't supply those either. The songs are not broadcast, but simply played in the mission control area.

      Mark Adler
      Spirit Mission Manager

  • just in case..... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 23, 2004 @12:26PM (#8363352)
    TOP STORY: NASA gets into the Groove!

    Posted by: Kano
    On: Sat February, 21 2004 @ 02:07 GMT
    ATSNN.com Exclusive
    It has become somewhat of a NASA tradition that during missions to space a wake-up song is played at the beginning of each day's mission. Such wake-up Music was played to shuttle crews at the commencement of their daily activities. Wake-up music was also played for the teams controlling the Pathfinder mission to Mars in 1997 at the beginning of each Sol's activities. Wake-up music has made a triumphant return for the current Rover missions on Mars.

    The function of the Wake-Up Music is as it would suggest, to 'wake-up' the mission team and get them focused on the days activities. As we will see the selection is often a little bit tongue-in-cheek. The music was originally played for the team around the time that the "sweep" was transmitted to the Rover shortly after it woke up. This sweeps the transmit frequency so the Rover's receiver can lock onto it. This occurs at around 8.45AM local time (at the landing site). However this meant the song was being played before many of the team members came-in, so the time was subsequently shifted to 10AM local time. By this time most of the crew are on station and ready to begin the Sol's activities. Sol is the term for a Martian 'Day'. One Martian Sol is 39.5 minutes longer than one Earth Day.

    The song (sometimes songs) for each Sol are typically chosen by the Mission Managers, in the case of Spirit this is Dr. Mark Adler. The songs are chosen for a link they have with the planned activities for the day. The selections are often quite humorous. Dr. Adler was kind enough to give ATSNN the full list of songs played on the Spirit Mission so far.

    Sol 2: Good Morning, Good Morning, by the Beatles.

    Sol 3: Oh What a Beautiful Mornin', by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

    Sol 4: Hail to the Chief, by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. (Presidential phone call.)

    Sol 5: Satisfaction, by the Rolling Stones. ("I can't get no ...", Air bags not cooperating.)

    Sol 6: Get Up, Stand Up, by Bob Marley. (Lift mechanism actuated.)

    Sol 7: Da Da Da, by Casaca. (Brazilian song suggested by investigator from Brazil, RRGTM student that week from Brazil.)

    Sol 8: Soak Up the Sun, by Cheryl Crow. (Laid-back sol.)

    Sol 9: I Can See Clearly Now, by Jimmy Cliff. (Picture taking sol.)

    Sol 10: Unchained, by Van Halen; Hit the Road Jack, by Buster Poindexter; Turn, Turn, Turn, by the Byrds. (Cable-cutting, backup on deck. start turn on deck.)

    Sol 11: I Get Around, by the Beach Boys; Round and Round, by Ratt; You Spin Me 'Round, by Thalia. (Rest of turn on deck.)

    Sol 12: Born to be Wild, by Steppenwolf; Rawhide, by Riders in the Sky; Who Let The Dogs Out?, by the Baha Men. (Egress.)

    Sol 13: Reach Out, by the Four Tops. (First arm activity.)

    Sol 14: You've Got The Magic Touch, by The Platters. (Touching arm down on Mars.)

    Sol 15: If You Love Somebody Set Them Free, by Sting; Roam, by The B-52's; Good Times Roll, by The Cars. (Last engineering activities, first drive on the surface.)

    Sol 16: After Midnight, by Eric Clapton; Trash Day, by Weird Al Yankovic. (Crew starts Mars day after California midnight, part of the sol dedicated to deleting contents of flash.)

    Sol 17: We Will Rock You, by Queen. (First arm activities and observations on a rock.)

    Sol 18: Sledgehammer, by Peter Gabriel. (Intended first RAT sol, though ran into problems later, to put it mildly.)

    Sol 19: S. O. S., by Abba. (Objective was to regain contact with Spirit after a loss of communications. We did.)

    Sol 20: Baby, Talk To Me, from the musical Bye Bye Birdie. (Objective was to get Spirit to send data. We did.)

    Sol 21: Satellite, by The Hooters. (A rousing lullaby for when we were trying, and succeeded, to get the rover to go to sleep. We did.)

    Sol 22: We Can Work It Out, by The Beatles. (Beginning debugging activities to get Spirit back t

  • ha ha ha (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 23, 2004 @12:29PM (#8363390)

    Sol 23: Start Me Up, by the Rolling Stones. (Booting in crippled mode.)

    *ROTFLMAO*

    Yes, this isn't the first time "Start Me Up" has been used to describe a crippled OS.

  • Flash Lyrics (Score:3, Funny)

    by utahjazz ( 177190 ) on Monday February 23, 2004 @12:48PM (#8363643)
    Flash! ah-ahh!
    Savior of the Universe!
    Flash! ah-ahh!
    He'll save everyone of us!
    Flash! ah-ahh!
    He's a miracle!
    Flash! ah-ahh!
    King of the impossible!

    He's for everyone of us!
    Stands for everyone of us!
    He saves with a mighty hand!
    Every man every woman!
    Every child-he's a mighty!
    Flash.

    He's just a man
    With a man's courage
    Nothing but a man
    But he can never fail
    No-one but the pure at heart
    May find the Golden Grail
    • So you feel that you ain't nobody
      Always needed to be somebody
      Put your feet on the ground
      Put your hand on your heart
      Lift your head to the stars
      And the world's for your taking

      So you feel it's the end of the story
      Find it all pretty satisfactory
      Well I tell you my friend
      This might seem like the end
      But the continuation
      Is yours for the making

      Yes you're a hero
  • You got the TOUCH! You got the POWER!!

  • Just a side note... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Myco ( 473173 ) on Monday February 23, 2004 @01:15PM (#8364003) Homepage
    Sol 21: Satellite, by The Hooters. (A rousing lullaby for when we were trying, and succeeded, to get the rover to go to sleep. We did.)

    That strikes me as a particularly ill-chosen adjective to describe a lullaby.

  • Am I the only one that noticed... (Score:3, Funny)

    by b00m3rang ( 682108 ) on Monday February 23, 2004 @02:49PM (#8365225)
    ...that when they were booting in "crippled mode" they played "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones, which Microsoft used at one time to promote Windows. Windows = "crippled mode"? You be the judge.
  • Seeing as how the two rovers are stone deaf, all the talk of "waking the rover up to the tune of (foo)" is pretty ironic.
    • the music is not transmitted to the rovers. the purpose is solely for the team of operators in mission control.

      -calyxa
      • Teh funniest:

        Sol 31: I Wanna Be Sedated, by the Ramones. (Very low activity sol to get the rover rested and ready for surgery on the following sol.)

        Sol 32: Wipe Out, by The Surfaris, and We're Not Gonna Take It,
        by Twisted Sister. (File system reformat.)

        --I LMAO when I saw that - those guys have a great sense of humor.
  • Does the RIAA have interplanetary jurisdiction? Rover must be playing illegal MP3s, WMA, or something, right? Or did NASA include a 100-disc changer?
    • ATTENTION PAINFULLY STUPID POSTER:
      The rover isn't playing the song.

      We understand this may be difficult for you to understand, so we of The Anti-Total Dumbass Consortium have provided this handy website [stupid.ch] where you may seek additional enlightenment.

      That is all.

  • I think that America with 'A horse with no name' would be nice as well :-)

    On the first part of the journey I was looking at all the life There were plants and birds and rocks and things

    (ok ok..we still haven't found birds..just rocks and things ;)

    There was sand and hills and rings

    (check)

    The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz And the sky with no clouds The heat was hot and the ground was dry But the air was full of sound

    (Alien sounds? oohh..creepy.. or are they talking about Sting again?)

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