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What are the biggest issues happening in our lifetime? Apart from the coronavirus pandemic and climate change, I'd argue the biggest thing happening in our lifetime is the mission to make humans an interplanetary species, starting with Elon Musk's mission to Mars. If it happens, it's going to be really incredible to be alive at that exact point in time. People will look back at it thousands of years from now and say: "That was the point when humans became an interplanetary species. I wonder what it was like to live through that time?" This new album is all about the mission to make humans an interplanetary species and the controversy surrounding it. A big influence on this album was reading astronomer Carl Sagan's book "A Pale Blue Dot". The title of the book comes from Sagan's mission to get NASA to turn around the cameras on its Voyager 1 robotic spacecraft and take a picture of Earth from a distance. That photo became iconic, since it showed just how insignificant Earth - "a tiny pale blue dot" is - in the grand scheme of things. The photo celebrated its 30th anniversary while I was making this song, which uses NASA's audio samples from the Voyager 1 mission. I thought it was a good jumping-off point for the album...

lyrics

A tiny pale blue dot
A tiny pale blue dot.
This is Voyager launch control. The count now stands at T minus 59 minutes.
A tiny pale blue dot.
Preparations remain on schedule for the launch of Titan Centaur six.
A tiny pale blue dot.
Voyager 1 will set still another speed record.
A tiny pale blue dot.
This is Voyager launch control.
T minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and we have ignition, we have a lift off.
A tiny pale blue dot.
Going away from the Earth very rapidly.
A tiny pale blue dot.
Hey we got something, we got some data and it's still burning.
A tiny pale blue dot.
We now have spacecraft separation.
A tiny pale blue dot.
This is Voyager mission control out.
From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particluar interest - but for us, it's different.

credits

from Interplanetary Species (Expanded Edition), released January 29, 2021
Written, produced, arranged, mixed and mastered by Mat Ward.

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Mat Ward Australia

Mat Ward blends future bass, drum and bass, punk and politics to come up with a different sound. He has released albums about financial markets, Apple, Elon Musk, surveillance, the media, Mars, protest chants and the climate. He also writes books and a music column that has been shared by the likes of Ru Paul, Chuck D, Tom Morello and Al Jourgensen. ... more

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