The Golden Record, The Sounds of Earth
In 1977, NASA launched the Voyager space probes 1 and 2 to study the outer solar system. As of 2020 both probes are over 11 billion miles from earth, or three times the distance to Pluto. However, there is still 40,000 years until the probes will encounter another planetary system. The Golden Record is intended as a message in the event that one of the Voyager probes is eventually found by life forms outside of our solar system.
Dr. Carl Sagan, and other members of a NASA committee, assembled the Golden Record as a way to portray life on Earth in the form of sounds and images. At the time of the launch, Dr. Sagan said: “The spacecraft will be encountered, and the record played only if there are advanced space-faring civilizations in interstellar space, but the launching of this ‘bottle’ into the cosmic ‘ocean’ says something very hopeful about life on this planet.”
The record features spoken greetings in 55 different languages, all of which can be found on NASA’s SoundCloud account. It also contains samples of other human sounds like laughter, music and nature sounds such as animal calls and weather patterns.
It also contains 116 images, including equations, diagrams and photos, to depict our understanding of space, chemistry, biology, and aspects of humanity’s culture and achievements.
The first voice recording on the Golden Record is an introduction from the UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim (1918 – 2007) saying, “As the Secretary-General of the United Nations, an organization of 147 member states who represents 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.”
The USA President Jimmy Carter (1924 – ) said, “We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination, and our good will in a vast and awesome universe.”