Have you ever wonder why Voyager spacecrafts and Golden Records are a big step for the communication with other possible life-forms?
What is Voyager Golden Disk?
Voyager gold records are among the most popular subjects of the last period. NASA launched the unmanned vehicle, Voyager-1 and Voyager-2, into space in 1977 to collect data from Jupiter and Saturn. The Voyager spacecraft, which weighs 825 pounds, continues to transmit data from space today. These two spacecraft carry a special cargo as well as a very important mission that it has been carrying for many years.
Two records, the golden plaque, consisting of audio and images telling extraterrestrial intelligent life forms about life and cultural diversity on earth, were placed on Voyager spacecraft. The purpose of these plaques is to enable non-human beings to observe cultural diversity. It is precisely for these purposes that different sounds and images were recorded in recordings made on records. The original purpose of these plaques placed on the Voyager spacecraft is to carry sounds to living beings here if they exist at the point where the spacecraft will reach in 40,000 years.
The plaques placed on spacecraft and expected to be found by other beings are quite unlikely to complete this mission. If spacecraft interrupt electromagnetic radiation, the plaques will have no meaning. But it is also necessary to recognize that humanity sent these records with hope and aimed at a different mission.
How Was Voyager Golden Record Chosen?
The Golden Voyager Record was selected by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan. In the content chosen by Sagan and his team, it is necessary to express that they are not just live voices. The content created by combining different sounds, especially wave, wind, thunder, and animal sounds, also includes people's conversations.
The most notable detail on the plaque, which features conversations of people from different cultures, is the inclusion of greetings in 55 different languages. Both color and black and white photos are available on the Golden Voyager Record, which includes many images as well as sounds. Almost every detail given here is a transfer of the elements that people face in the area in which they live. The inclusion of naked human photos on a plaque called Pioneer, previously created by NASA, has attracted a huge response. For this reason, Carl Sagan and his team have been warned not to add such content to the records.
Working Principle of The Plate
The working principle of gold plaques was realized as a result of very precise and meaningful calculations. For this reason, the Golden Voyager Record proves that it is not an ordinary record. Especially if different entities find this record, they are able to detect how it works and other details in a short time. It is necessary to mention that the drawings given on the plaque box show the necessary directives in a general sense.
Golden Voyager Record Material Details
Although the Golden Voyager Record is a gold-plated record, its basic material is copper. For this reason, it would not be correct to mention that it is pure gold. On the other hand, the box part of the plate is made of aluminum and uranium. The main reason for choosing uranium is that this substance does not disappear easily in nature. It is worth mentioning that uranium, which can exist in nature for billions of years, will come to the fore not only in terms of endurance but also in terms of determining the age of plaque.
A curious wait has been going on since 1977 for the Golden Voyager Record, a highly valuable topic related to Space Studies. In this regard, it will be necessary to wait longer for people to answer the question of whether the mission will succeed!
If you're wondering about the fate of these records, you can take a look at what might happen in the future by following the NASA explanations and US.