More than 16 billion kilometers from Earth, the Voyager 1 space probe, a tangle of antennas and aluminum, is the one that allows us to obtain images of the outermost planets of the solar system, and clues about their moons. The speed at which it travels through the outer solar system is 20 times greater than that of a bullet.
But the most striking thing about these probes is what they have attached to their sides: a gold disk that contains detailed information about the Earth and its inhabitants , as well as the clues on how to locate our planet in space. These are two messages in space bottles, waiting to find complex and intelligent life that is capable of deciphering them. Whoever finds them could, therefore, make a friendly visit, or not, at the gates of the Earth.
The content of the gold record is 115 images and a variety of natural sounds , such as those made by surf, wind and thunder, birds, whales and other animals. Everything was selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan. Dr. Sagan and his associates assembled 115 images. Added to this were musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings from the Earth-people in 55 languages, and printed messages from President Carter and UN Secretary General Waldheim. Each record is encased in a protective aluminum sleeve, along with a cartridge and needle.
The instructions, in symbolic language, explain the origin of the spacecraft and indicate how the disc is to be played. The rest of the album is in audio, designed to be played at 16 revolutions per minute. It contains the spoken greetings, beginning with Akkadian, which was spoken in Sumer about six thousand years ago, and ending with Wu, a modern Chinese dialect. Following the section on the sounds of the Earth, there is an eclectic 90-minute selection of music , including Eastern and Western classics and a variety of ethnic music.
Once the Voyager spacecraft leaves the solar system, they will find themselves in empty space. This will happen forty thousand years before they make a close approach to any other planetary system.
