VOYAGER’S GOLDEN RECORD
What information did the Voyager spacecraft carry into space?
WORDS AILSA HARVEY
Both were engraved
In 1977, two identical copies of a Golden Record were attached to the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft, serving as time capsules in space. The NASA-approved idea was to combine the Voyager program, which aimed to gather data from the Solar System and beyond, with a mission to deliver information about life on Earth to any intelligent life forms that may encounter the spacecraft. This is the introductory message – narrated by United Nations’ secretary-general Kurt Waldheim – that’s heard when the Voyager Golden Record is played: “I send greetings on behalf of the people of our planet. We step out of the 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 humanity and hope that we take this step.” Waldheim mentions the record’s potential to allow humanity to teach and be taught. The main purpose of the Golden Record is to share an insight of Earth and to provide evidence of humanity’s existence in the hope that another intelligent civilisation in the universe will receive and be able to decipher the information.