Lunar Anthems| Putting the 'Art' in Artemis
Putting the 'Art' in Artemis
Lunar Anthems
Summary
Space is quiet, but it doesn't have to be. We are converting NASA data sets into soundscapes using open source web apps.
How I Addressed This Challenge
We developed a process to convert NASA data sets into musical soundscapes so that people can use more than just their eyes to explore the data that NASA generates.
We take raw data from historical repositories like LODE (https://ode.rsl.wustl.edu/moon/index.aspx), convert it to a common tabulated format like CSV, then load it into an open source web based sonification app like TwoTone (https://app.twotone.io/).
We then select columns from the data set to represent rhythm, harmony and melody before conversion into a short MP3 file.
We hope that engaging additional senses will help people to appreciate the complexity and incredible value of a variety of data sources.
How I Developed This Project
Inspired by the Douglas Adams novel "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency", in which one of the protagonists develops a piece of accounting software that converts spreadsheets into music.
This has since been achieved by apps like TwoTone and NASA's own CRaTER Live Radio. Unlike CRaTER, this approach can be applied to any of NASA's data sets.
We used NASA's Lunar Orbital Data Explorer to access data sets. We found that many data sets were not formatted for direct conversion to soundscapes, so we used R Studio (Windows) to convert them into CSV files. We then uploaded them to TwoTone. The data sets were larger than the maximum that TwoTone accommodates, so we had to trim the file to a section that had enough variety for a pleasant track.
We then chose columns of readings from the data to represent rhythm, harmony and melody. The rhythm track needed to be regular and constant data, whereas the harmony had to be varied but correlated. Our demo ended up with two complementary tracks for the harmony, bringing the total to four tracks. We then adjusted the tempo, key and instrument of each track. Then we exported an MP3 file.
How I Used Space Agency Data in This Project
We used magnetometer data from the Lunar Prospector mission, collected from around 1:50 am on the 22nd of February 1998.
For the rhythm, we used the Sunpulse data, a consistent binary beat played on double bass in the key of C major at 2x tempo.
For the harmony, we used the X magnetic field component in the SEL coordinate system, and in the SSE coordinate system. Two tracks played on harp in the key of C major at 4x tempo.
For the melody, we used the RMS deviation of the field magnitude, played on the marimba in the key of F major at 8x tempo.
Project Demo
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j0_bjOhBW-cYQeE61FDlUPwiQPF0Xj2n/view?usp=sharing
Data & Resources
We used the MAG Level 1B data from the magnetometer instrument from the Lunar Prospector mission MA980222 (http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/geocopy/ppi/LP-L-MAG-4-SUMM-LUNARCRDS-5SEC-V1.0/lpmag_0001/data/mag/1998/032_059feb/ma980222.tab).