Earth within reach: Sound of BepiColombo Earth flyby

A sonification of data recorded by the Italian Spring Accelerometer (ISA) aboard the BepiColombo spacecraft as it neared the closest point to Earth of the April 2020 data in this recording were obtained on 10 April as the spacecraft approached the planet’s surface from the distance of 27 844 km to 13 107 km. The closest point of the flyby, which enabled BepiColombo to harness Earth’s gravity to tighten its trajectory around the Sun, was at the distance of 12 689 km from the planet’s original frequency of the dataset, inaudible to humans, had to be enhanced by the team from Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) in order to create the audio track. The data was condensed so that one hour of measurements would equal about a minute of Magnafico, one of the ISA team members, compares the recording to the sound conducted through the rail when a train is approaching.“What you are hearing is actually the sound of BepiColombo,” says Carmelo. “The vibrations caused by ext