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Are we alone? Does life exist outside of the solar system? Where is everybody?
These are some of the biggest questions that remain largely undiscovered. However, if there's one thing we know for sure, withinside the hundreds of years humankind has been studying outer space, it's that galaxies way past our milky way are teeming with planets.
Figure 1. Image of the Golden Record Voyager (Nasa.gov, 2024)
Purpose of these Records
In hopes of discovering life outside of our solar system, in 1977, Dr. Carl Sagan of Cornell University, a planetary scientist and committee chair in NASA, assembled two Golden Record Voyager spacecrafts that carried a unique “time capsule”. These records were launched into interstellar space with the intention to communicate a story of our world to distant advanced extraterrestrial beings.
To identify these voyager’s place and time of origin for spacefarers that might come in contact with them, two spacecrafts - Pioneers 10 and 11 were sent prior to the launching of the Golden Voyagers for tracking purposes (Nasa.gov, 2024).
During the time of launch, Dr. Sagan said: “The spacecraft will be encountered, and the record played only if there are advanced space-faring civilizations in interstellar space, but the launching of this ‘bottle’ into the cosmic ‘ocean’ says something very hopeful about life on this planet.” Although both records haven’t yet reached any space-faring civilizations yet, Voyager 1 is the most distant spacecraft created by humans up until this point — moving at a velocity of 38,026.79 mph (17.0 km/second) relative to the Sun (Nasa.gov, 2017).
What’s on the Records?
Figure 2. An explanation of the recording cover diagram (Wikimedia.org, 2022)
The gold plated records are protected within an aluminum jacket, along with a cartridge and a needle. The instructions to play the record are written in symbolic language that indicates the origin of the spacecraft and illustrate how the record can be played. The discs contain sounds and images selected to portray the biodiversity of life and culture on Earth. It features 55 different language greetings ranging from Akkadian, a language spoken in Sumer six thousand years ago, to Wu, a modern Chinese dialect. In addition, there are also samples of other human sounds like laughter, music and nature sounds such as animal calls and weather patterns. Moreover, it also contains eclectic music featuring both Eastern and Western classics, and ethnic music.
To play the sounds, (refer to figure 2) start from the upper left hand corner, a drawing of the phonograph record and stylus shows the correct position to play the record from the start. Following on, the upper right hand corner indicates how pictures can be constructed of recorded signals. Next, the drawing on the bottom left hand corner shows a pulsar map, portraying the location of our sun with reference to 14 pulsars including precise periods.
Finally, in the lower right corner, two hydrogen atoms are drawn in their lowest states, the most common element in the universe. The numbers indicate transitioning from one state to the next, between energy levels. The time it takes for the transition can be used as a fundamental time scale as it always releases radiation with a wave period of exactly 0.7 nanoseconds. This allows aliens to grasp the base unit of time for the whole record since they don’t have the concept of seconds (Abram, 2024).
In a universe that is largely unexplored, the Golden Records symbolize humanity’s hope and curiosity. These time capsules inspire future generations to keep exploring and learning about places that have yet to be discovered. As we look to the future, the spirit of the Golden Records lives on, enabling us to seek understanding and harmony in an ever-expanding cosmos.
Works Cited
Abram, C. (2024). NASA Sent This Message To Aliens. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MT-ErptvDmg [Accessed 10 Sep. 2024].
Nasa.gov. (2024). Golden Record Overview - NASA Science. [online] Available at:https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/voyager-golden-record-overview/ [Accessed 10 Sep. 2024].
Nasa.gov. (2017). Voyager 1 - NASA Science. [online] Available at: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/voyager-1/ [Accessed 10 Sep. 2024].
Un.org. (2020). The Golden Record, The Sounds of Earth | United Nations Gifts. [online] Available at: https://www.un.org/ungifts/golden-record-sounds-earth [Accessed 10 Sep. 2024].
Wikimedia.org. (2022). File:Voyager Golden Record Cover Explanation.svg - Wikimedia Commons. [online] Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Voyager_Golden_Record_Cover_Explanation.svg [Accessed 10 Sep. 2024].
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