In quite possibly the most impressive use of a calender known to man, the organisers of bluedot have managed to have the exact 50 year anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landings slap-bang in the middle of their festival.
June 20th 1969 went down in history as the day Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin plonked their lander on the moon, got out and went for a stroll. All while poor little Michael Collins was sat in orbiting the moon – officially the loneliest man in the world ever.
Well June 20th falls this Saturday and as a science and music festival there’s no better place to celebrate this 50 year anniversary than bluedot. As such they will be bouncing messages from this year’s top billed acts off the Moon and back to Earth including audio messages from the artists and an image of Joy Division’s iconic Unknown Pleasures album.
Called a Moonbounce – the feat will utilise the Dwingeloo Telescope in the Netherlands to transmit the messages into space and rebound it off the surface of the Moon. The festival will then catch the returning echo using the Mark II Telescope at Jodrell Bank before playing it back to the audience through the sound system.
Organisers are also appealing to festival goers to submit their own voice messages to help celebrate this special anniversary – it could be a short poem, a personal message to the Moon or even your hopes for the future of space exploration. The best will be selected and used as part of the unique Moonbounce performance over the weekend.
The Moonbounce messages are inevitably distorted as they travel almost half a million miles in just three seconds – the organisers suggest speaking slowly and clearly and to keep messages to under 20 seconds.
The artists’ Moonbounce messages will be played at the Big Bang Stage at half past midnight on Saturday night. Messages selected from festival goers will then be played at 2am as part of Lunar Loops’ Live Moonbounce with Illuminos when the unique messages will interact with and influence the visuals that will be projected onto the Lovell Telescope.
To be in with a chance of having your message ‘Moonbounced’ call the direct line to the surface of the Moon NOW on 03333 449340.
