Anthropologist Michael Oman-Reagan muses, “Has NASA been to interstellar space because this spacecraft has? Have we, as a human species, been to interstellar space?” They are, in a sense, how we as a species have planted our flag of exploration in space. The Golden Records mark our claim to interstellar space as part of our cultural landscape and heritage, and once the Voyager spacecraft themselves are not functional any longer, they will become proper achaeological objects. Placing artifacts in interstellar space thus makes the galaxy subject to the social studies, in addition to astronomy. And unlike the Voyager spacecraft themselves – which were designed to have finite lifespans and whose journey into interstellar space was incidental to their primary function of exploring the outer planets – the Golden Records' only purpose is to serve as ambassadors of humanity to the stars. Unlike everything on Earth, which is subject to erosion and all but inevitable destruction (from the sun's eventual demise, if nothing else), the Golden Records are essentially eternal, a permanent time capsule of humanity. The records also represent humanity's deliberate effort to put artifacts among the stars. As music scholars Nelson and Polansky put it, “By imagining an Other listening, we reflect back upon ourselves, and open our selves and cultures to new musics and understandings, other possibilities, different worlds.”Įngineers mount the Golden Record and secure its cover on Voyager 1. If an ET even has ears, it's still far from clear whether it would or could appreciate rhythm, tones, vocal inflection, verbal language or even art of any kind. The choice to include music has inspired introspection on the nature of music as a human endeavor, and what it would (or even could) mean to an alien species.
theses written on the records' content, investigations into the identity of the person heard laughing and successful crowdfunded efforts to reissue the records themselves for home playback. Only two years after the launch of these messages to the stars, “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” imagined the success of similar efforts by (the fictional) Voyager VI. In this light, 40 years' hindsight shows the experiment to be quite a success, as they continue to inspire research and reflection. Pioneer 10's plaque: 'Hi, we're here.' (Image credit: NASA, CC BY) Inscribed on the records' covers are instructions for their use and a sort of “map” designed to describe the Earth’s location in the galaxy in a way that extraterrestrials might understand. They settled on elements such as audio greetings in 55 languages, the brain waves of “a young woman in love” (actually the project's creative director Ann Druyan, days after falling in love with Carl Sagan), a wide-ranging selection of musical excerpts from Blind Willie Johnson to honkyoku, technical drawings and images of people from around the world, including Saan Hunters, city traffic and a nursing mother and child.Both craft carry Golden Records: 12-inch phonographic gold-plated copper records, along with needles and cartridges, all designed to last indefinitely in interstellar space. A team led by astronomer Carl Sagan selected the contents, chosen to embody a message representative of all of humanity. The grooves of the records record both ordinary audio and 115 encoded images.
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