Visions of Mars 1996/2007

The Winds of Mars (1:00)

Visions of Mars is a DVD-ROM extra-terrestrial artifact created by The Planetary Society, Pasadena CA, and is on-board NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander 2007. The spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Florida on August 4th, 2007 and safely landed in the northern plains of Mars on May 25th, 2008 after a journey of about 423 million miles. Phoenix has successfully completed its mission of analysis of the Martian arctic soils and atmosphere looking for clues about the history of water and the potential for habitability. Visions of Mars remains on the deck of the lander as a time-capsule greeting awaiting future human explorers of the planet Mars.

Visions of Mars was created by The Planetary Society with director Louis Friedman, creative and artistic director Jon Lomberg and astronomer Carl Sagan. Featuring the narration of actor Patrick Stewart it includes works by science fiction writers Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Judith Merril among numerous other authors and artists. https://www.planetary.org/outreach/visions-of-mars

“Visions of Mars is a compact disc designed to be delivered by spacecraft to the surface of Mars. It is a gift from the present to the future.”
--from Visions of Mars forward by Carl Sagan

The “Winds of Mars” heard in the title sequence was created by composer Bob Derkach. After consulting with planetary astronomer James Pollack, an expert on the Martian atmosphere, Derkach tried to duplicate the sounds of wind blowing through the thin Martian air.”
--from Visions of Mars, notes by Bob Derkach, Composer

The original 8bit/22Khz CD-ROM version of Visions of Mars was aboard the ill-fated Russian Mars ‘96 Mission, which blasted off from Baikonur, Kazahkstan, Russia on November 16, 1996 and fell back to the Earth’s surface hours later. The remastered 2007 16-bit/44.1Khz DVD-ROM retains the content from the original version with a few additions.

Prior to the failed Russian Mars ’96 Mission, I sent Sir Arthur C. Clarke my first album Waiting Is (now out of print) which contained the track “Winds of Mars”. As a fellow traveller on the CD-ROM he favoured me with this wonderful response: