Speaker Spotlight

Jason Achilles is bridging two seemingly impossible worlds: the silence of space and the language of music. This Chicago-born composer and sonic innovator has achieved what no one thought possible—capturing the first recorded sounds from Mars and transforming them into a new understanding of how we connect with the cosmos through sound.

Jason’s extraordinary journey began in childhood, when he was mesmerized by Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” before he could even speak. Influenced by everything from Vladimir Horowitz’s masterful piano performances to The Muppet Show’s playful creativity, he developed a unique musical vision that would eventually reach beyond Earth’s atmosphere. While earning his BA in Music at UC Berkeley, he composed “Schizmatique No. 1 & 2,” complex works that would later be recorded in Prague and Budapest and premiered at Carnegie Hall and Segerstrom Center in 2024.

But Jason’s most groundbreaking achievement came through an unexpected collaboration that changed space exploration forever. In 2021, he partnered with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to design and inform the operations of a revolutionary microphone system aboard the Mars Perseverance rover. This wasn’t just about capturing sound—it was about fundamentally expanding human sensory experience to another planet.

When that microphone successfully recorded the first sounds from Mars, Jason had accomplished something that redefines our relationship with space exploration. His work transforms the cold, silent void we imagine space to be into a rich acoustic environment full of discovery and wonder. Featured in WIRED and news outlets worldwide, including his father’s homeland of Greece, this breakthrough has global implications for how we understand and explore other worlds.

Today, Jason merges his dual expertise in music and space technology through educational talks that inspire audiences to reconsider the role of sound in human exploration and connection. His work proves that the boundaries between art and science, Earth and space, silence and sound are far more fluid than we ever imagined.

http://jasonachilles.com