Top 50: Science

VETENSKAP

From Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars, explore the world of human spaceflight with NASA each week on the official podcast of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Listen to in-depth conversations with the astronauts, scientists and engineers who make it possible.

Houston We Have a Podcast

The melodious song of a Blackcap is heard in a glade of Birch woodland in Sweden

'Birch Wood' - album sample

Between Earth and the Sun, space is not truly empty but is filled with a soup of charged particles called plasma. This plasma comes from the Sun, pumped out in a steady stream called the solar wind and sporadically blasted away in explosive solar eruptions. When this solar plasma strikes Earth, it causes the magnetic field lines and plasma around Earth to vibrate like the plucked strings of a harp, producing ultralow-frequency waves. 

In 2007, NASA launched five satellites to fly through Earth’s magnetic “harp” – its magnetosphere – as part of the THEMIS mission (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms). Since then, THEMIS has been gathering a bounty of information about plasma waves across Earth’s magnetosphere. 

The frequencies of the waves THEMIS measures are too low for our ears to hear, however. So a NASA citizen science project called HARP – or Heliophysics Audified: Resonances in Plasmas – has sped up the waves recorded by THEMIS to convert them to sound waves.

In this clip from February 21-22, 2012, whistle sounds are repeatedly heard over ambient background whooshes and crunches. The whistles decrease and increase in pitch as a THEMIS spacecraft moves toward and away from Earth on one orbit, with a maximum altitude of about 50,000 miles. These sounds are related to Earth’s magnetic harp, which has longer magnetic strings and lower pitches farther away from Earth.

Earth’s Magnetic Harp

Between Earth and the Sun, space is not truly empty but is filled with a soup of charged particles called plasma. This plasma comes from the Sun, pumped out in a steady stream called the solar wind and sporadically blasted away in explosive solar eruptions. When this solar plasma strikes Earth, it causes the magnetic field lines and plasma around Earth to vibrate like the plucked strings of a harp, producing ultralow-frequency waves.

In 2007, NASA launched five satellites to fly through Earth’s magnetic “harp” – its magnetosphere – as part of the THEMIS mission (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms). Since then, THEMIS has been gathering a bounty of information about plasma waves across Earth’s magnetosphere. 

The frequencies of the waves THEMIS measures are too low for our ears to hear, however. So a NASA citizen science project called HARP – or Heliophysics Audified: Resonances in Plasmas – has sped up the waves recorded by THEMIS to convert them to sound waves.

In this clip from March 19-20, 2012, whistle sounds are repeatedly heard over ambient background whooshes and crunches. The whistles change in pitch as a THEMIS spacecraft moves toward and away from Earth on one orbit, with a maximum altitude of about 50,000 miles. These sounds are related to Earth’s magnetic harp. We normally expect the whistles to have lower pitches farther away from Earth where the harp strings are longer, but the first part of this clip goes against this trend: the pitch increases or stays the same as the satellite moves away from Earth. 

 Thanks to volunteers on the HARP project who uncovered this pattern, researchers are now able to study these unusual vibrations and their connection to space weather.

Earth’s Reverse Magnetospheric Harp

Between Earth and the Sun, space is not truly empty but is filled with a soup of charged particles called plasma. This plasma comes from the Sun, pumped out in a steady stream called the solar wind and sporadically blasted away in explosive solar eruptions. When this solar plasma strikes Earth, it causes the magnetic field lines and plasma around Earth to vibrate like the plucked strings of a harp, producing ultralow-frequency waves.

In 2007, NASA launched five satellites to fly through Earth’s magnetic “harp” – its magnetosphere – as part of the THEMIS mission (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms). Since then, THEMIS has been gathering a bounty of information about plasma waves across Earth’s magnetosphere. 

The frequencies of the waves THEMIS measures are too low for our ears to hear, however. So a NASA citizen science project called HARP – or Heliophysics Audified: Resonances in Plasmas – has sped up the waves recorded by THEMIS to convert them to sound waves.

In this clip from February 19-22, 2012, whistle sounds are repeatedly heard over ambient background whooshes and crunches. The whistles change in pitch as a THEMIS spacecraft moves toward and away from Earth on three orbits, with a maximum altitude of about 50,000 miles. These sounds are related to Earth’s magnetic harp, which has longer magnetic strings and lower pitches farther away from Earth. These three orbits happened when the solar wind was blowing past Earth at a speed of about 1,200,000 miles per hour, which is fast even by solar wind standards! There’s often more harp activity during fast solar wind conditions. The solar wind also causes many other types of magnetic vibrations, most of which sound like background whooshes and crunches.

Multiple Passes through the Magnetospheric Harp on February 19-22, 2012

On Episode 287, A NASA expert details an upcoming space station study conducted during a spacewalk to better understand potential contaminants for future human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Houston We Have a Podcast: Science in a Spacesuit

On episode 294, a project lead at NASA walks us through a new laser communication system that will be tested on the Artemis II mission to the Moon to drastically increase deep space data rates.

Houston We Have a Podcast: The Moon in 4K

NASA Flight Opportunities Program Manager Danielle McCulloch discusses rapid demonstration of technologies and capabilities for NASA missions and commercial spaceflight.

Small Steps, Giant Leaps Podcast

Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Episode 111: Flight Opportunities

On episode 295, hear from the deputy project manager for NASA’s CHAPEA project as well as the volunteer crew of four who joined us a few days before entering the Mars simulated habitat for one year.

Houston We Have a Podcast: A Year on Mars

Euclid Operations Director, Andreas Rudolph, completes the final GO/NO GO RollCall before ESA's cosmic detective is launched from Cape Canaveral on 1 July, to discover the secrets of the dark Universe.

Mission Control is GO for launch.

Euclid RollCall

On episode 296, we are joined by rocket scientists who discuss a new revolutionary rocket engine design tested at NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center last year.

Houston We Have a Podcast: Advanced Rocket Engines

Solfeggio frequencies recorded on the morning of the winter solstice copyright Tai Inoue at Nature Sounds 2011 

Windy Winter Solstice - Lakefield National Park, Cape York

On episode 396, NASA project scientists Maria Banks and Sue Lederer revisit recent Commercial Lunar Payload Services missions and discuss research on the Moon. 

Houston We Have a Podcast: Lunar Surface Research

Houston We Have a Podcast: The Art of Astronaut Photography

On episode 398, Chris Edelen, acting vehicle integration office manager for NASA’s Orion Program, discusses the spacecraft that will carry astronauts around the Moon on Artemis II.

Houston We Have A Podcast: Artemis II: The Orion Spacecraft

	
On episode 399, NASA astronaut Suni Williams reflects on her record-breaking mission, her perspective after returning to Earth, and her journey as one of the most experienced spacewalkers in history. 

Houston We Have A Podcast: A Record Breaking Astronaut

On episode 401, NASA Artemis II launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson shares her path to the console and what it takes to launch the first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon. 

Houston We Have a Podcast: Artemis II - Launch Director

Hello, we’re NASA. You may have seen our astronauts, rocket launches, or Mars rovers — but have you heard our sounds? From interviews with astronauts and engineers to stories that take you on a tour of the galaxy, NASA’s audio offerings let you experience the thrill of space exploration without ever leaving Earth.