When you think of the sounds of air and space, what do you think of? 
Maybe it's the roar of the engine or your favorite song about flying or space travel. 

Sound is an important part of how we've experienced air and space: from the sounds the aircraft and spacecraft make, songs we use to tell stories about air and space travel, and how we've used sound to communicate hard to understand information. It's even something we race: Flying faster than the speed of sound. 

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New Activities

An illustrated title card with the text "A Race in Space" and a drawing of a rocket.

Listen to Space-Inspired Songs

Starry skies and space exploration can inspire people to write songs! Check out this series of original songs by Dr. Jim. Which one is your favorite?

A young girl pulls a string emerging from an oatmeal can.

Make A Musical Instrument

Airplane rides can be noisy! You can recreate the noise with this instrument. 

Stars and cloud like formations in space.

Listen to Telescope Data

You may already know that space telescopes collect data about stars and galaxies.

Air

Charles "Chuck" Yeager with Bell X-1

Flying Faster Than the Speed of Sound

Did you know sound has a speed? It is how fast the waves of sound travel through the air. It is very fast. 

When an airplane gets close to flying that fast, the air ahead of it starts to compress. Shock waves form on its wings and drag increases dramatically. 

The first person to fly faster than the speed of sound, or to break the sound barrier, was Chuck Yeager. 

Explore the Science
Sheet music that shows an illustration of a biplane flying against a blue background.

Songs About Flying

In the early 1900s, flying was new and exciting. It was a popular topic of songs. Listen to some of those songs. 

Listen to More Music

Space

Voyager Record

Songs in Space

Two Voyager spacecraft were launched in 1977. After exploring the outer solar system, both travelled into interstellar space. Each carries a record that includes images, sounds, and music from Earth, in case they encounter another intelligent civilization.

The records include messages from U.S. President Jimmy Carter and U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, greetings in 55 languages, and a sound essay about life on Earth. The records also include music of different types from around the world, from classical symphonies, to traditional and folk music, to blues, and rock n’ roll.

Listen to one song included: 

Select a Song to Discover Its Connection to Space

"Space Oddity" (Ground Control to Major Tom)

"Whitey on the Moon"

"Jingle Bells"

Creating Sounds Out of Data from Space

Scientists can use the signals gathered by telescopes to produce the kinds of images that we’re used to seeing – but some scientists also turn that data into sound. This is known as sonification. Play the video for an example. 

These sonifications were created by the Chandra X-ray Center, which is operated for NASA by
the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

More Sonifications

Music from the Museum

An illustrated title card with the text "A Race in Space" and a drawing of a rocket.

Music Time

Four music videos for early childhood learners that explore space in song. 

Runtime: 15 minutes

album cover with "Under Ancient Skies, Smithsonian's AirSpace + Diplo" with image of white bird

Under Ancient Skies

A unique musical experience, listen to music from Diplo matched with spoken words about the cosmos. 

Runtime: 40 minutes

A stylized image of an astronaut.

Space Songs

A digital concert from 2020 with performers like Sting, Clipping, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, and more.

Runtime: 1 hour 12 minutes