Yesterday I watched a new release on Netflix titled
VOYAGER. I expected it to have some exciting facts and images, and I certainly
was not disappointed, but I also got something unexpected.
Voyager 1 and 2 were launched a month apart in 1977,
their mission to send back pictures and data on Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune
including the moons that orbit them. From there the two spacecraft would
continue to travel out into interstellar space beyond our solar system into the
great unknown. We will receive information from Voyager 1&2 for many years
to come because they have nuclear batteries powering them.
Jupiter's Moon, IO
All of this scientific data is enough to excite us
Earth-bound humans, but Voyager 1 has on board something very special,
something that the scientist, Carl Sagan envisioned and included that will
carry humanity into the stars in immortality.
The Golden Record
Carl Sagan made a golden record of Earth sounds, of
animal sounds, a variety of music from classic, to jazz, to rock, and music
from other countries around the world. A message of “Greetings from planet
Earth” spoken by adults and children in many languages was recorded on the
golden record. Sagan also included images of humans and a map to Earth using
pulsars.
The Arrow shows the last picture of Earth from Voyager 1
Voyager will be out there still traveling with humanity’s
thumbprint long after all life on Earth has disappeared and our sun has turned
into a red giant. And maybe somewhere, sometime if other intelligent beings are
out there, they will find Voyager and discover that there was a planet named
Earth where once life abounded and human beings reached out to say, “Hello, we
were here.”
Diverse
stories filled with heart
