FORGOTTEN HITS: Spaced Out!

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

Spaced Out!

Since today (Monday, August 1st, 2023) just happens to be the night of a full moon ...

And since there has been all this talk lately about military whistle blowers acknowledging the on-going investigations into all things alien and UFO related ... and how they may pose a threat to our national security ...

(oh wait, we can't call them UFO's anymore ... they're now called UAP's ... must be some kind of "politically correct" update since the '30's!) ...

And since Kevin Spacey was found not guilty of sexual assault (ya see what I did there) ...

And since Chuck Buell wants us to maintain our image of being on the leading (if not BLEEDING) edge of all things Forgotten Hitable ...

He has offered up THIS piece of galaxy news.

And so, without any further adieu (bless you!) ...

Here is the latest from our in-resident Director of the Forgotten Hits “Music in Outer Space” Department, Chuck Buell

(who may have been considered a little bit spacey himself from time to time over the years!!!) . . .

One of the most iconic pieces of musical space exploration history went up for auction yesterday.

But it can still be yours at a later date as it did not sell!

In 1977, just weeks apart, NASA’s Twin Voyager Probes, Voyager One and Voyager Two, lifted off to explore the solar system. They carried identical 12-inch golden records designed as the first recorded interstellar message from humankind to potential intelligent life in the cosmos.

Eight copies of this special record, made of copper and plated in gold, were produced, including the two that flew to space. Each record cover was etched with symbols depicting how to locate the Sun and instructions on how to play the record.

And, as any astute Forgotten Hitter knows, one of those recordings included Chuck Berry’s 1958, Top 10 Hit, “Johnny B. Good.”

One of the copies of the Master Analog Audiotapes of these Voyager Golden Records, held by the late astronomer Carl Sagan and his wife, went on the auction block yesterday at Sotheby’s New York.

They are still in their original Columbia Recording Studios boxes with very informally handwritten labels. According to the auction house, the audio quality of both tapes is “excellent.”

The two double-sided reels were expected to go for between $400,000 and $600,000. However, they did not.

The Gold Records themselves traveling beyond our solar system and now between 12 and 15 billion miles from Earth were designed to last between 1 billion and 5 billion years. ( Side Buell Bar: How could they even “calculate” how long they should last much less that long?! )

When the Voyager probes were launched in 1977, no one expected those twin spacecraft would have missions lasting from four years to 45 years and counting. NASA says it will be forty thousand years before a close approach to any other planetary system is even reached.

And shortly after they do, NASA fully expects to receive phone calls from undetermined locations stating that the warranty on their space probes have expired and should be renewed immediately!

( OK, I might have made that last line up, but still . . . )

BTW, a 3 Vinyl LP Box Set Compilation of these actual NASA Gold Records, especially for Earthlings, IS available on Amazon for a more budgetable price of around $160.