On Saturday July 30, a piece of music entitled A Glorious Dawn, composed by John Boswell and recorded on vinyl was played 28,000 metres above Earth on a “space-proof” turntable.
The specially engineered vinyl recording, which also features audio of American scientist Carl Sagan musing on the mysteries of universe, played for about 80 minutes. At that point, mission was complete, as it were, and the high-altitude balloon which carried the contraption burst. The turntable then duly hurtled back towards Marsing, Idaho.
Musician Jack White is founder of Third Man Records which helmed this visionary mission. “Our main goal from inception to completion of this project was to inject imagination and inspiration into the daily discourse of music and vinyl lovers, “ he declared. “We hope that in meeting our goal we inspire others to dream big and start their own missions, whatever they may be.”
The vessel which carried the turntable - known as The Icarus Craft - was designed and engineered by Kevin Carrico, whose father John took part in the Nasa’s Mars-Viking space programmes.
As the Icarus Craft lacked air and was exposed to direct sunlight and shade, the record was playing in a state of constant expansion and contraction. For this ambitious space project to succeed, the precious slice of vinyl was plated in gold so that the grooves would hold their shape.
“As you rise higher and higher into the thinning atmosphere, temperature and increasing vacuum (lack of air) can cause issues,” Carrico explained. “Vinyl has a rather low melting point (71C/160F) and without air to keep things cool, you could wind up with a lump of melted plastic on your hands if a record is exposed to the sun for too long.”
“We could not be happier to check this longtime goal off its bucket list,” Third Man Records declared in a statement.
