http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3217961/
? Feb. 18, 2004 | 11 p.m. ET
The Martian anthem: What music do you play to wake up a Martian? Every
morning brings a new song for the rovers on the Red Planet, selected by the
mission team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and usually keyed to the
theme of the day. For example, today's wakeup music for the Opportunity
rover was the Bob Marley reggae anthem "Trenchtown Rock," played as a
tribute to the six-wheeled explorer's trenching skills.
To tell the truth, the music is more of a boost for JPL's scientists and
engineers than it is for the mechanical rovers. But the selection for last
Saturday lifted the spirits of Mars enthusiasts around the world ? and
perhaps beyond. On that day, Opportunity was awakened to the strains of
"The Pioneers of Mars," the unofficial planetary anthem for the fourth rock
from the sun.
It's a bittersweet song for co-author Karen Linsley, who wrote the song
with partner Lloyd Landa and entered it in the Mars Society's "music for
Mars" competition in 2000. The song won the contest's Rouget de Lisle
Award, but Landa died of a heart attack just 10 days before the song made
its public debut at that year's Mars Society convention.
Linsley performed the song with tears in her eyes, and received a standing
ovation. She remembered Landa in her remarks to the crowd: "Get to Mars.
And when the notes of this song are heard on Martian soil, he will live
again."
There were no human ears on Mars to hear the notes on Saturday ? but I
think the transmission nevertheless reawakened Landa's legacy. Listen to an
excerpt from "The Pioneers of Mars," and hear the entire song on the
Prometheus Music Web site.
This week, the Mars Society announced that it would conduct its second
Rouget de Lisle competition, "for songs celebrating the cause of the human
exploration and settlement of space." The deadline for sending in your
entries is April 30, and 10 finalist songs will be submitted for
consideration by Prometheus Music as well as NASA. Attendees of this
summer's Mars Society conference will select the top anthem.
For details, consult the Mars Society Web site. For additional inspiration,
listen to a musical tribute to Columbia's astronauts, and check out Craig
Woodson's thoughts on music for Mars.
