Pioneer plaques are humanity's cosmic message
NASA's Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft carry gold plaques depicting humanity and Earth's location, serving as our first cosmic message to potential alien discoverers.
In 1972 and 1973, NASA launched the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft, carrying gold plaques designed to introduce humanity to any extraterrestrial intelligence. These were the first human-made objects to leave our solar system. The plaques, created by Carl Sagan's team, feature diagrams of a nude man and woman, our solar system, and a map pinpointing Earth's location using pulsars. They also depict a hydrogen atom, a universal unit of measurement. This was humanity's first deliberate attempt to communicate with the stars, reflecting an optimistic era of space exploration. The plaques omit weapons, emphasizing a peaceful portrayal, though the universality of the nude figures' gestures remains debated.