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Space Jams

Season 11
May 28, 2025
Illustration of a golden record that with orbiting satellites and Earth.

If you were curating a mixtape that might be heard by aliens billions of years from now—but definitely would be seen by your fellow Earthlings—what would you put on it? In 1977, two Voyager spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral on a journey that would take them beyond our solar system. Affixed to the side of these two planetary explorers was the Voyager Golden Record—the ultimate mixtape of humanity—containing 27 pieces of music as well as pictures and sounds of Earth. But how did these selections get made? Nearly 50 years later, we're teaming up with our friends at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s podcast, AirSpace, to explore what's on the record, how it got made, and its legacy.

Transcript

Airspace Hosts: 

  • Matthew Shindell, curator of space history at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
  • Emily Martin, planetary geologist at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum 

Guests:

  • Ann Druyan, Voyager Golden Record Creative Director
  • Lawrence Azerrad, Co-founder of Macroscopic

From the Collections

Gold plated disc with etched designs on the surface. At top left is a circle depicting the record. The dashes along the outer edge, in binary code, show the proper rotational speed for playing the record.

Record, Cover, Voyager (Duplicate)

Record, Voyager, Sounds of Earth

Box, Box Set, 40th Anniversary, Voyager Golden Record

18c Pioneer 11 single

Vinyl Record A/B, Box Set, 40th Anniversary, Voyager Golden Record

33c Pioneer 10 single

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage by Carl Sagan

Voyager... Going the Distance

Carl Sagan

Voyager: The Mission

A Conversation with Bulgarian Folk Singer Valya Balkanska [Interview Video]

Chuck Berry

Louis Armstrong

Trumpet owned by Louis Armstrong

Mozart [photomechanical print]

Ludwig van Beethoven

The "Voyager" Comes to NASM

Voyager Enroute to NASM

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