2015-05-05 10:50:05 (edited by Green Gables Fan 2018-03-29 10:28:42)

Hi everyone,
I've been interested in space life for a while, most particularly on the concepts and on how things worked when talking about rocketry. I may branch off a little on this topic, but hopefully it'll make sense in the end.
Last week I was doing a lot of searches for articles and such on how spacecrafts worked, what they were like, etc. The only problem with this is that many of the information I find is visual, hardly any audio, and the ones that do are flooded with radio transmission from communication places. I've been thinking about using some of these to help me feel like I am really inside a spacecraft. Now, having attended the National Federation for the Blind Youth Slam once, I got to learn about their involvement with NASA and the past space plane (shuttle) missions.  Our group even got to talk to a real astronaut.  One of the things we were talking about was how people could work together to make human space flight a reality by ignoring the economical barriers. I pointed out that the best way to cross this is to raise a lot of funds. That might take a while, but it could be worth it.
One of my questions, which the astronaut may have misunderstood was, whether or not they brought along recorders or cameras inside the space vehicle they were travelling in, such as the shuttle or the Soyuz Space Capsule. The launches and landings I get to hear happen within the outer perspective, and is mostly coated with radio transmissions. I've been trying to find actual recordings of people going into space so I could hear what it was like from the inner perspective.
Also, if human space flight became more commonplace, there would be no trouble of recording such space flights and putting them on the internet for others to hear.
Remember when I went sky-diving? I tried looking for similar sounds before I went, but all I found were music videos? This is almost the same here. Besides, I could use these in a production that I sometimes use with SAPI voices. The only problem is that many of the sounds are not realistic, whereas I want sounds that are so real that they make you feel as if you are a part of the experience from beginning to end.
Also, if I ever get to go to LA, I want to tour the space shuttle they have down at the science centre. Based on a previous recording, it sounds like the area is mostly damped by the acoustics, which is the reason there is hardly any echo. Of course, I couldn't hear everything clearly because it was almost entirely interrupted by radio communication.
The only recording that appears to be complete appears to be STS-65, which was a mission flown by Columbia in 1994. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsHljHRM67c You can primarily hear the crew talking via headset, though you can occasionally hear them talking by mouth. You can hear what sounds like a vacuum cleaner or a seat cooler, then you hear the sounds of the space shuttle main engines, followed by the SRB separation. After eight minutes, you hear a ripping, tearing sound which was a checklist being torn from its Velcro support due to high G forces. Then, you hear the tank separating. I could not hear any orbital manoeuvring systems or reaction control positioning engines at all.
After a little bit, they start the re-entry process. They have the ambiance switched on for about three minutes, up until they turned on some lights, but somehow it got switched off, and you couldn't hear anything but the crew talking via headset microphones. This was really devastating because I really wanted to know how it sounded when the shuttle encountered the atmosphere, and how the landing gear was deployed, how it landed on the ground, and how it sounded when the parachutes were deployed to slow it down. I also wanted to find white room ambiance to hear how astronauts were getting ready to board.
So if you know of any places that have sctual sounds of space vehicles being launched and landed from within the interior, or have some information you'd like to share, feel free to do so. Also, I would ask that you use lay terminology to explain complex details.
Thanks!

Ulysses, KJ7ERC
She/they
Reedsy

2015-05-05 11:13:33

The problem Ggf, is that I don't actually think there would be much sound in a space shuttle, nothing particularly unique anyway. I toured Jodral bank observatory and space center, where they do have some of the capsules used in the past in constructing things like the international space station, which you could go inside and look around, and honestly your talking about an extremely cramped metal box.

obviously, there is no sound literally in space, so in a space suit all you would actually here would be your own confined breathing and any radio transmissions, much like wearing full body scuba gear accept without the water background, and being in a spaceship would be pretty much the same, ie you'd just hear your own sounds in a very confined metal space, sinse all you would hear of the external environment would be radios, and the engines of your capsule, which (from the news I've heard etc), sound pretty much like any damnably loud jet engine you'd hear inside an aircraft, hence why astronauts communicate by radios.

Practically speaking most of the unique experiences of going into space would be either visual, or tactile, not auditory, hence why all the videos use background noise.

As to actual space flight becoming a reality, unfortunately as per usual with the human disgrace it's a case of well we could if we weren't ruled by organizational stupidity and the chasing of prophet. Until either spaceflight becomes prophetable, or until we cooperate for better reasons than wanting to improve a balance sheat or because we all think one particular bit of rock is better than someone else's bit of rock, we probably won't be seeing anything in terms of space exploration or colonization at all. Indeed, about the only major development I could see in space flight currently would be orbital flights as a novelty toy for the mega rich, and even that is becoming less likely given the rising fuel costs.

Of course yes humanity could! in the same way humanity could! stop all economic oppression and world starvation, develop renewable energy sources or  treat everyone equally.   But  so long as  the collective is in charge how likely is that to happpen.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2015-05-06 04:27:19 (edited by Green Gables Fan 2018-03-29 10:33:20)

Hello,
I was able to find some recordings of space ship sounds, but I'm not sure from which part they were taken from. The first one seems to be from the commanding part of the space shuttle, where you can hear the people moving around a bit. You can also hear some sounds even after the ship has entered orbit. The second section seems to be from when the Soyuz space capsule was landing. You can hear the fans and possibly the engines that control the reentry. The third section appears to be recorded using microphones located inside the solid rocket boosters, for you can hear the hollow metal and the air passing through it. You can also hear when it splashes down in the water. http://www.sensation-experience.com/space_shuttle.mp3
I am most particularly interested in the engine sounds of the space crafts as well. I recorded myself inside a commercial flight, and from the recording you can definitely tell it's real, and not just a bunch of foley sound effects put together.

Ulysses, KJ7ERC
She/they
Reedsy

2015-05-06 19:37:21

I wonder what the re-entry process would sound like as the temperature rises and the whatever that stuff is boils off the heat shield.

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2015-05-06 22:27:35

@Ironcross, good question. I don't know if you'd be able to actually hear the cracks of cooling metal or not.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2015-05-07 14:08:36

I'm not sure how many layers of the material is on these spaceships, but I don't think it would be enough for sounds to be penetrated inside the confined space. Also, few people record the inside of the space capsule, which I wish there were.
Maybe there should be a place for collecting soundscapes of stuff.

Ulysses, KJ7ERC
She/they
Reedsy

2017-09-04 06:25:27 (edited by Green Gables Fan 2017-12-16 00:43:35)

Hi y'all! I'm back!
Well, I was lucky to find this recording of what it could have sounded like when they were inside the Soyuz space capsule as they were launching. You can hear the sound of the electronics on board, possibly a fan and other things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcuQuMinrCo I wrote a comment on the YouTube Channel, and I may use that to contact NASA and or the European Space Agency.
As a totally blind person who uses accessible web sites and screen readers, I heavily rely on sound art projects and tactile feedback to know what is going on. It is a shame that there aren't that many sounds recorded from inside the space vehicles. I wish someone would take the time to record their entire space journey from leaving the bus to riding the lift to the top of the tower, getting in the orbit module, descending into the module below, launching, docking, undocking, and landing back on Earth, all purely made of sounds that were recorded with a high-quality microphone. It could even serve as a relaxation aid, for we already have sounds of inside a commercial jetliner, but no one in the world who is of the middle or lower class may never have an opportunity to go into space, unless they won the lottery. And I don't think there has abeen any audio recordings of getting into the space shuttle or docking, undocking, and landing it as well. It's interesting that we have a lot of external sounds of rocket launches, but not much of what is going inside. Perhaps we should fund a mission that will focus on the recording of the ambiance inside these space vehicles to give people a better experience of what it would feel like and sound like to go through an entire space journey.

Ulysses, KJ7ERC
She/they
Reedsy

2017-09-04 10:01:32 (edited by magurp244 2017-09-04 10:03:15)

You could also try contacting SpaceX/Elon Musk, they do regular launches all the time now but aren't quite certified for crew flights yet. There are a few videos around of tours of the ISS, i've also come across some videos of the Endeavour mission posted in 2012, it seems the crew recorded several videos of their docking and disembarkment to the ISS, along with time on board. There is some occasional radio chatter and silence here and there but its mostly the ambient sounds and crew talking to each other, or themselves.

[Part 1], [Part 2], [Part 3], [Part 4], [Part 5], [Part 6], [Part 7]

There's also some general ISS ambience [here]. There are a few video's available of space walks as well taken with go pro's, although for obvious reasons they aren't inside the suits themselves. [This] one has some rather interesting audio though, the sounds of the camera being moved around, and the hum of nearby equipment attached to the ISS, etc.

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2017-09-04 10:58:27 (edited by Green Gables Fan 2017-09-04 11:35:22)

I've heard sounds of the ISS through NASA Live Radio streaming on my Book Port Plus. It's the sound of walking and boarding the space vehicle, starting up the systems, launching, the docking, then the undocking and landing of the space vehicle that aren't always recorded. I even looked on SoundCloud, but only found a few sounds. I'm preparing some e-mails which I will send to NASA Kenedy Space Centre and the European Space Agency.
So I got to listen to all the videos you linked here, and I noticed that the STS 134 videos were uploaded by Brian K. I don't know if he was one of the crew members, but if he was, I would like to contact him about filling in the rest of the puzzle, like where the sounds of the space shuttle landing is located, or if he can help me find more sounds of the boarding and debarking of the space vehicle from the inside.
Also, I heard that there are space vehicles you can tour and even go inside in the United States, but I don't know where they are exactly. For instance, Space Shuttle Endeavour is in the California Science Centre, but the material used to put it together is very fragile, which is why they won't let anyone feel it, not even with gloves. I see that as discrimination against people who may not be able to see. It's like saying, here's a space vehicle in front of you, but you can't see it with your eyes. You can't even feel it. It's just there. So how can you appreciate that something amazing is there if you cannot perceive it?
Thanks for all these links. I will definitely look into them! :-)

Ulysses, KJ7ERC
She/they
Reedsy

2017-09-05 00:11:36 (edited by magurp244 2017-09-05 00:17:06)

Hm, [this] link seems to offer a good list of the Shuttle exhibits available. There are a few that have full sized replica's and some of the training modules that were used that have tours. Links [here] and [here] featuring Seattle's Museum of Flight with the Full Fuselage Trainer seems to allow people into two of the three level's inside the replica shuttles command module for an extra fee, along with tours inside the shuttle compartments and cargo area. There doesn't appear to be any barriers around the equipment or compartments either. The links are from a few years ago though so I'm not sure if anythings changed since then, the Johnson Space Center's replica of the Shuttle Independance for example might be inaccessible right now because of the recent flooding.

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2017-10-12 08:56:21 (edited by Green Gables Fan 2018-07-02 11:03:45)

Hi, it's me again!
So thanks to post eight, and a few YouTube videos I found on my own, I made this little file which I uploaded on my web site at http://www.sensation-experience.com/mul … huttle.mp3
I was able to find a recording of the astronauts landing, but I was disappointed to hear that it only containd headset sounds, because they switched off the external ambiance. You can usually hear and feel a big bump or jolt as the back wheels hit the ground, followed by the fast motion as it rolls down the runway.
Oh, my God! I can't believe how lucky I was to find this rare never-before-heard raw audio of space shuttle STS 41 launching.
Anyhow, enjoy!

Ulysses, KJ7ERC
She/they
Reedsy