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aliens, astro201, astrobiology, blog9, communications, golden record, life, voyager
In 1977, NASA launched the spacecraft Voyager 1 into space to observe Jupiter and Saturn and, eventually, to travel outside our own solar system to explore interstellar space. The probe is still traveling and, though it will take a few hundred more years for it to even reach the Oort Cloud, it is the farthest-traveling probe that humans have ever sent into space. It is currently about 11 billion miles away.
Because it has traveled so far, we really don’t know what – or who – it could encounter. Humans have not detected any sign of extraterrestrial life emitting signals or attempting to communicate with beings like us (see more on theories of life and Fermi’s paradox here). However, in the case that Voyager 1 does meet aliens in its journey out of the solar system, the spacecraft is prepared.
The current location of Voyager 1, mapped by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The small probe is equipped with a record player and a record made of gold that could be played by other creatures that would happen to find the probe. Scientists say that if creatures were able to locate it, they would have the intellectual and technological capability to work it. The golden record is likely still in good condition, as it is sealed in an aluminum sheath and preserved in an airtight vacuum. (NASA JPL)
The record contains a wide variety of sounds from Earth – including whale sounds, other natural sounds, the crying of a baby, and the sound of a car – as well as greetings in fifty-five different languages, a peaceful salutation from the Secretary General of the U.N., and a message from American President Carter. Also included on the record was music from several areas of the globe representing many ethnic backgrounds, including American singer Chuck Berry. There is even information encoded on the record itself; it is inscribed with a model of how to play the record and a diagram of our understanding of the Solar System. (The Atlantic)
Though Voyager 1 may soon fall outside the range of interacting with NASA, it will continue to travel through space. We can only wonder if other creatures will find the record and the rest of the probe, but the possibility of communicating with other beings in the universe is nothing less than intriguing.
More about Voyager 1 here
Sharp Science 
I like thinking about what they put on the Voyager records because it makes me think about what would make it on today. Trying to compress the summation of human culture into what you can fit on a vinyl seems like an impossible task.
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Hi, Grader here!
Very interesting post! It’s amazing how much they were able to encode in the vinyl record at that time. Do you happen to know what exactly is the propulsion system of Voyager 1? For it to be able to travel for almost 40 years, it would need a special kind of fuel.
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