The Mission of the 'Birdwatchers'

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Spaceflight carries several different connotations for its devotees. Some people love the idea of sending men and women into the cosmos, while some appreciate the patriotism of the United States’ efforts to explore space. Others geek out over the science of space travel.

One group has a different reason for its interest in spaceflight. They call themselves the “Birdwatchers,” but they’re listeners as much as they are watchers. And they have a specific reason for their fascination with America’s return to the moon and beyond.

The Birdwatchers are most interested in the sounds of spaceflight. The group includes Jason Achilles Mezilis, a musician, producer, and audio engineer, Justin Foley, a system engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Benny Burtt, a sound editor at Skywalker Sound (and yes, the son of legendary sound engineer Ben Burtt), and Andrew Keating, an audio engineer with Cosmic Perspective, which documents space exploration efforts.

Even though they have different backgrounds, you can see the connection and passion that they share. They’ve filmed and recorded launches for a few years, but the Birdwatchers have a particular fascination with the future of space travel: SpaceX’s Starliner and Super Heavy, the combo that will get Americans back to the moon, Mars, and maybe even beyond.

“These rockets are so loud that they’re tearing the air to shreds, so what we’re trying to capture with these launches is where sound ends,” Mezilis said.

On one recent mission, the Birdwatchers set up their gear in a pair of spots near the launch site among the Texas Gulf Coast sand dunes. Sennheiser explains, “For this mission, the group positioned a Sennheiser MKH 418-S M-S stereo shotgun microphone and a pair of MKH 8070 long shotgun mics about half a mile south of the launch pad and placed the AMBEO VR mic a mile to the north.”

The tricky part of a mission like this one is that the mics are so close to the launch site that the group has to set everything up and leave it there. Their equipment can record for up to 48 hours, which accounts for delays, and the dunes help shield the gear from heat, dust, and debris.

“As long as that rocket’s fueled and on the stand, it’s basically a giant bomb,” Mezilis explained. “You can’t go back to check your equipment.”

We’re not just talking about a bunch of hobbyists here. The Birdwatchers are recording the launches for practical and scientific applications, as well as to preserve historic moments for posterity.

“There’s so much here that’s of interest to students and to the scientific community,” engineer and professor Gabe Herman said. “For the next launch, we are curious to learn more about how sound behaves at the launch site, which will likely require specialized equipment. Because the air is literally destroyed, it can be difficult to understand the nature of the awesome force taking place at launch. We hope to build on existing research on this phenomenon and make that more accessible to students.”

Other practical applications include sound design for films and television shows. Burtt’s famous father collected sounds from nature and urban landscapes for his movie work, and recording launches can provide sound designers with plenty of material for future projects.

Producers and engineers like Mezilis love to test the boundaries of their equipment as well, and what better way to see what mics can do than to subject them to the rigors of a launch? But Mezilis also wants to make the launch experience more fun for kids who can’t see it in person.

“When you talk about space, what do kids get excited about?” he asked. “It’s black holes, it’s where physics breaks down, and the end of everything. And what we’re trying to capture is where the air is literally getting shredded and torn apart. This is some of the loudest stuff that there is, and I think that’s appealing to the kid in all of us.”

Herman also envisions ways to make launches more immersive and exciting.

“Our dream is to find a way to build a portable dome where we can project 360 video and a 360 audio component so that kids — and adults — who are interested in science can stand next to one of the loudest things on earth and watch it go off into space in a way that you just can’t experience on YouTube,” he said.

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