What Will You Make with NASA’s Big, Free, Collection of Space Sounds?

image via (cc) flickr user howardignatius

To be honest, I’m not sure what’s cooler: The fact that NASA has collected, and published some of best audio in the history of space exploration, or that it’s all free to download, use, mix, and create with as you see fit?

Ranging from recordings made during some of NASA’s most famous shuttle missions (think: “Houston, we’ve had a problem”) to the more atmospheric beeps and boops of deep-space radio emissions, NASA’s recently (*ahem*) launched SoundCloud page contains some of the most important scientific audio in history.

Here’s a sample:

As Open Culture points out, NASA hasn’t put any of its audio under copyright, so you can legally download it either from their SoundCloud (instructions on how to do so, here) or directly from the audio directory on NASA’s website. All NASA asks, as per their usage guidelines, is for anyone who uses their media to give them proper attribution as the material’s source. This means that, so long as you give NASA the source credit, any of you enterprising DJs, mix-masters, or even casual listeners can take authentic sounds of space, chop them up, and turn them into whatever you’d like.

Or, if you’d prefer: Simply turn your speakers up, press “play,” and start referring to your desk as “Mission Control.”