An artist concept depicting one of the twin Voyager spacecraft. Humanity’s farthest and longest-lived spacecraft are celebrating 40 years in August and September 2017. Image via NASA.
On September 5, 1977, NASA launched the Voyager I space probe from Cape Canaveral, Florida to study the outer Solar System. The spacecraft carried a golden record containing sounds and images (see video below) selected to portray the diversity of life and culture to aliens from the people of Earth. Voyager I, which is currently in “Interstellar space” over 12 billion miles from home, will not come remotely close to another star for 40,000 years, but will continue to travel for billions of years. So these golden time capsules could be a greeting to a curious alien or someday be the only remaining traces of human civilization.
On the eve of its fortieth birthday next month Voyager 1 NASA is celebrating this milestone, by sponsoring a competition here for the most uplifting message to send to the craft. NASA has been collecting via social media posts containing the hashtag #MessageToVoyager, since August 1 with the last day to send is August 15. NASA will select one message that captures the best sentiment through a combination of a public vote that will begin August 23 and input from the Voyager ground team. The one short message that NASA picks out will be beamed out to Voyager 1 on September 5, to be included with the Golden Record in the hopes first contact will be made someday.
Transcript of Video:
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on September 5th 1977 NASA launched
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Voyager 1 from Cape Canaveral Florida
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almost four decades later that craft is
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over 12 billion miles from home
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Voyager carries a golden record
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containing a greeting from the people of
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Earth to the alien life-form that may
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someday find on the record is a
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collection of images and sounds a short
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glimpse into the soul of our plan
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but since aliens probably wouldn’t know
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what to do with a phonograph record NASA
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had to provide a set of instructions on
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the record cover but what could they say
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how do you begin to communicate with a
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life-form that evolved entirely
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separately from us scientists at NASA
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had to invent a code that anyone living
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in the universe might be able to
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decipher so to do this they started with
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what is by far the most commonly found
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molecule in the universe hydrogen this
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diagram illustrates the transition
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between the two lowest states of
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hydrogen any spacefaring civilization
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will probably understand the properties
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of hydrogen enough to know that when
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this transition happens radiation is
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released with a definite wave period in
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human terms we say this period is about
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0.7 nanoseconds this wave period is used
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as the basic unit of measurement for the
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rest of the diagrams on the cover
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these are the instructions on how to
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make the record work assuming aliens
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wouldn’t have record players like we do
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NASA included one on the craft with the
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needle already in place these markings
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are binary code that defined the speed
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you need to turn the record to get it to
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play correctly translated we get over
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5.1 billion hydrogen transition wave
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periods or about 3.6 seconds per
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rotation at this speed you would begin
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to hear greetings in 55 different
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languages when you come up with us for
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you hello for the children of credit
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this would be followed by music and
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sounds from Earth like a train in motion
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crickets chirping fire crackling
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laughter and a baby crying
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this section explains how images can be
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pieced together from recorded signals a
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replica of the first image on the
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recording is shown here so the viewer
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can verify they decoded the signals
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correctly in total there are 116 images
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on the record they show our solar system
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our planet and ourselves without much to
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erode it in space the golden record is
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estimated to survive for a billion years
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travelling aimlessly through the Milky
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Way it’s impossible to say whether
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voyager or its twin voyager 2 will ever
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be found and retrieved by another
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life-form
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but as carl sagan who chaired the golden
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record project but it it would be
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impolite not to say hello
