Voyager probes carry humanity's message to aliens

Space
Voyager probes carry humanity's message to aliens

Launched in 1977, NASA's Voyager probes carry gold-plated copper records containing Earth's sounds, images, and music, serving as a billion-year message to any extraterrestrial intelligence that might encounter the craft in interstellar space.

NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft carry identical 12-inch gold-plated copper disks designed to remain intelligible for a billion years in the vacuum of space. These records contain 115 analog-encoded images and a variety of natural sounds, ranging from thunder to whale songs. A committee chaired by Carl Sagan curated the contents, selecting 90 minutes of music that includes Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 and Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B. Goode'.

There's more to this story — open the app to keep reading.

Continue Reading in App
1 more paragraphs · plus a 3-question quiz
Open in App

Get the full experience

Download Facts A Day