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MM or MC......Voyager Expedition

Watched a very interesting program on PBS the other day about the Voyager Expedition.  A lot of time was devoted to the gold record that accompanied the space craft on its journey.  The Chief Engineer mentioned that a cartridge was included along with the record and with graphic instructions on how to play the recording.  No mention by the engineer if MM or MC cartridge was chosen.  Does anyone have any inside information on what type of cart was included?  Just curious.....Thanks!
 
quincy
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Apparently it was neither:

http://www.shure.com/americas/support/find-an-answer/shure-phono-cartridge-on-the-voyager-spacecraft

Ceramic cartridges are an old relatively lo fi technology based on piezoelectric effects, rather than electromagnetic principles. They typically provide much higher output voltages than MM or MCs, and I believe they can perform more reliably than MM or MCs in the presence of severe vibration.

Regards,
-- Al

bimasta's avatar
bimasta
227 posts
 
Sheer conjecture. Given the date (1977, when MCs weren't mainstream) and the fact the NASA is American, it was probably a Shure. Also, it was not known if extra-terrestials had SUTs, though clearly they would have turntables. Everyone did.

BTW, was that Golden Record ever released to the public? I don't recall it. If not, why not? Did it contain classified information?
bimasta's avatar
bimasta
227 posts
 
Almarg posted while I was writing. He's probably right. Different magnetic fields on distant planets might not affect a ceramic as they might a magnetic cartridge of any type.
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