Voyager Golden Record

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Golden Record Cover with instructions for use

The Voyager Golden Records are data disks with image and audio information that are attached to the two interstellar space probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which were launched in 1977 . The data disks were made as messages to aliens in the hope that any intelligent, alien life forms could learn about humanity and their position in the universe through them , even if the probability of this is extremely low and humanity may no longer exist. With an estimated lifespan of 500 million years, the plates should at least provide evidence that humans existed.

The plates were designed by a team of researchers led by Carl Sagan . The Voyager Golden Record scientific team also consisted of Philip Morrison , Frank Drake , AGW Cameron , Leslie Orgel , Bernard M. Oliver and Stephen Toulmin . Isaac Asimov , Arthur C. Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein were consulted as external advisors .

description

Data disk with picture and sound information
The record case is attached to Voyager 1 on July 29, 1977

Each of the two plates is enclosed in a protective cover made of aluminum together with a cassette and a needle. On this cover (Golden Record Cover) there are instructions in symbolic language on how the data disk can be decoded. The times required for playback - 16⅔ revolutions per minute - are given in binary form and relate to the characteristic oscillation frequency of the hydrogen atom , which is also shown as an H 2 molecule. In addition, the origin of the plates is explained on the cover: As with the Pioneer plaques , the position of the sun is indicated in relation to 14 pulsars .

The data plate itself is a 30 centimeter gold-plated disc made of copper . The beginning of the data track contains 116 analog images (→ images on the Voyager Golden Record ).

The rest consists of audio data. This includes spoken greetings in 55 languages ​​(→ greetings on the Voyager Golden Record ) (the text: "Warm regards to all", spoken by Germanist Renate Born ) as well as various noises such as wind , thunder and animal noises (→ noises on the Voyager Golden Record ). This is followed by 90 minutes of selected music, in addition to ethnic music, well-known tracks by Johann Sebastian Bach , Ludwig van Beethoven , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Chuck Berry , Louis Armstrong and others (→ pieces of music on the Voyager Golden Record ). In addition to the greetings in different languages, there is an audio message from UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim and a written message from US President Jimmy Carter :

“As the Secretary General of the United Nations, an organization of 147 member states who represent almost all of the human inhabitants of the planet Earth, I send greetings on behalf of the people of our planet. We step out of our solar system into the universe seeking only peace and friendship, to teach if we are called upon, to be taught if we are fortunate. We know full well that our planet and all its inhabitants are but a small part of this immense universe that surrounds us and it is with humility and hope that we take this step. "

“As Secretary General of the United Nations, an organization of 147 member states that represents almost all human inhabitants on planet earth, I send greetings on behalf of the peoples of our planet. We step out of our solar system into the universe in search of peace and friendship only, to teach, where we are asked to, to learn when we are lucky. We are fully aware that our planet and all of its inhabitants are nothing but a small part of the immense universe that surrounds us and we take this step with humility and hope. "

- Kurt Waldheim

“This is a present from a small distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. "

“This is a gift from a small, distant world, a sample of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings. We try to survive our age in order to be able to live into your time. "

- Jimmy Carter

criticism

The one-sidedness of the message on the record was often criticized. The designers of the plate would have, for example. B. the biologist Heinrich Karl Erben , created a distorted picture of humanity and the first message that we send to our "brothers" in space is a lie. As long as pictures of starving children, the sounds of dying whales and references to the warlike history of the planet are not sent, the communication would be false and not a good basis for establishing contact.

Duplicates

In addition to the two plates that were sent with the Voyager program , there are duplicates in various museums. Including, for example, in the Museum for Communication Frankfurt , in the German Museum of Books and Writing of the German National Library in Leipzig or in special exhibitions such as "Coded for Eternity - Sky Disc and Voyager Golden Record" in Nebra's Ark from May 1st to November 15th 2009.

Similar objects

literature

  • Sagan, Drake, Lomberg et al .: Signals from the Earth. Our planet introduces itself . Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Th. Knaur Nachf., Munich / Zurich 1980, ISBN 3-426-03676-2 (English: Murmurs of Earth. The Voyager Interstellar Record . German-language paperback edition without replica CD-ROM).
  • Erben, Heinrich K .: Intelligences in the cosmos? The answer of evolutionary biology . Piper, Munich / Zurich 1984, ISBN 3-492-02723-7 (German-language book edition without replica CD-ROM).

Web links

Commons : Voyager Golden Record  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fernando J. Ballesteros: ET talk: how will we communicate with intelligent life on other worlds? Springer, New York 2010, ISBN 978-1-4419-6088-7 , p. 144
  2. ↑ Terra X of June 12, 2011: Fascination Universe - The measure of all things. With Professor Harald Lesch.
  3. ^ Voyager Record Photograph Index
  4. ↑ Linda Salzman Sagan: The greetings of the Voyager capsules ; in: signals from the earth; P. 167
  5. ↑ Prof. Renate Born
  6. ^ Murmurs of earth ; P. 139
  7. ^ Greetings to the Universe in 55 Different Languages
  8. ^ Sounds of Earth
  9. ↑ Music From Earth @ voyager.jpl.nasa.gov, accessed October 18, 2010
  10. ^ Giancarlo Genta, et al .: Space, the final frontier? . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003, ISBN 0-521-81403-0 , p. 330
  11. ↑ Statement by Carter, 1977 , gif @ bigear.org
  12. ↑ Statement Waldheim @ bigear.org, (accessed October 18, 2010)
  13. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrCaPuQn4_Q
  14. ↑ Voyager record to be seen in Nebra until November. In: Spektrum.de . September 2, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Interview on 40 years of “Voyager Golden Record”: Rock'n'Roll for Aliens. In: rollingstone.de . December 10, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2018 .