Message to the Unknown

(1) In 1977, two spacecraft named Voyager I and II were launched toward Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. After collecting and sending back to us precious information about those giant planets, they left the Solar System in 1989. No one knows how long their wanderings will last; distances in space are so enormous that the ships may float there for a billion years without hitting any object that could destroy them. According to scientists, the Voyagers may approach the nearest star on their path in forty thousand years or so; in another four hundred thousand years, one of the Voyagers may pass near a second star. In either case the ships will be at a distance of one or two light years from the star. There won't be any crash: a light year is the distance that light, traveling at 186,000 miles per second, can cover in 365 of our days.

(2) There are countless stars in the universe. It is believed that some of them are, like our sun, circled by a number of planets and that some planets may carry intelligent beings, perhaps more advanced than we are. It is therefore possible that, in a million years or so, some creatures, flying through space in their own ships, will find one of the Voyagers. The stars are so far apart that the chances of such a meeting are very small, but it is not totally impossible. The scientists who prepared the spacecraft for their journey decided to put a message on each of them. "We may never have another opportunity" they explained, "to communicate with our distant neighbors—to let someone know, sometime, somewhere, that our blue planet was once the home of fairly intelligent people, more or less civilized."

(3) The first difficulty was to decide what form the message should take. How can you communicate with beings that you can't even imagine? Since the laws of physics are believed to be the same throughout the universe, all beings must perceive light and sound in some way, even if they don't have eyes and ears like ours. After considering the problem carefully, the scientists and their chief, Dr. Carl Sagan, concluded that the best way to deliver the message was to put it on a special record capable of reproducing images and sounds, packed with a needle and a drawing showing how the equipment should be used.

(4) A small committee of scientists, writers, artists and musicians was given the task of preparing the message itself. Despite some differences of opinion about the choice of material, the members of the committee agreed on the main points. They all said that it was essential to indicate the location of Earth in the universe, to show what it looked like, and to give an idea of the richness and variety of its cultures.

(5) The message lasts two hours. It starts with 116 pictures without sound, beginning with a drawing of the solar system and photos of Earth taken from space. Life is described first with representations of a man, a woman, a mother feeding a baby, a group of older children, and a family. To show that Earthlings live in societies, there are also pictures of people eating, working, cooking, and playing together. Then come all sorts of people: dancers, fishermen, members of different races and cultures. There are trees, beaches and islands, leaves and snow, an active volcano, even an earthquake. There are animals, from the bee to the elephant. Human achievements are represented by some of our most impressive buildings and bridges, along with ordinary houses from various parts of the world. Pictures of tools and machines have been included, medical and scientific instruments, a supermarket, a busy airport, and the launching of a spaceship. And a flock of birds flying across a gorgeous sunset.

(6) After this silent representation of our world, the record provides the Earth's sounds. This section of the message begins with brief speeches in fifty-five languages (including languages that have not been used in thousands of years), plus a special greeting from a group of whales. The speeches are followed by the sounds of nature (waves, wind, rain, animal calls, and bird songs) and human noises such as footsteps, heartbeats, the crying of a baby, men sawing wood, trucks and automobiles, and—the most difficult to record—the sound of a kiss.

(7) Three quarters of the record consists of music. This selection was the most difficult to decide on, for each member of the committee had his or her favorite composer. But they finally agreed that the aliens should have a chance to hear from as many cultures, past and present, as possible. If the finders of a Voyager can hear at all, they will have a wide choice: Bach, Beethoven, jazz, a Navajo chant, folk songs, European music of the fifteenth century, a wedding song from Peru, melodies from Japan and India, and a very old tune from New Guinea. The aliens will also hear a Mexican band, some rock and roll, and an ancient Chinese melody, "Flowing Streams," performed on a four-thousand-year-old instrument.

(8) The gold-covered record and its equipment, wrapped in aluminum for extra protection, are expected to survive in space for at least a billion years. What sort of beings, if any, will find them? And how will they react? Will they be curious and excited? Or will they be so used to picking up spaceships that they'll be bored to find one more? Will their own history and experiences help them understand what Dr. Sagan's team was trying to show? Will they be impressed by our achievements? Or will they laugh at our clumsy efforts to communicate—if they can laugh? Will they try to locate the blue planet?

(9) The sad fact is: We'll never know.