They have always been tasked with conveying a message to aliens from beyond the solar system. The Golden Record is made of metal and resembles a vinyl record. A team of scientists and artists, including Frank Drake, packed music, nature sounds, messages, photos, and more on each record, and they included players and instructions if anyone finds them. The project wants to tell a story about humanity, what humans aspire to, and our world. Images of families, homes, and scientific advances are included. The purpose of the record was to answer questions that the team would have. Who sent it, the Beings or the sender? What do they have in common? What actions do they take? What was their life like? It is actually a self-portrait.
Unlike SETI, the records are not meant to be a starting point for contact. It is possible that the Golden Records could be found millions of years from now. It is similar to finding a fossil. You can't speak to the dinosaurs. Our obituary is a kind of souvenir from when we were here.
Small metal plaques with symbolic messages were carried by the Pioneer missions. The pair of Pioneers left the solar system in the 1980s and 1990s. No space mission since has included a similar record of humanity. It might still be possible to send a digital message to the computer of the craft. It would last longer than the Golden Records.
The influence of the Voyagers has been felt since. They inspired NASA and other agencies to revisit the outer planets. Upcoming missions include Galileo, Juno, and the European Space Agency's Huygens lander, as well as new probes in the works.
Pop culture owes a lot to the Voyagers. In the first Star Trek movie, an alien spaceship called "V'ger" was included. The West Wing, Saturday Night Live, and The X-Files all feature the Golden Records. A violin concerto was written by the composer.
Dodd says that the instruments are working and the data is still great, despite the fact that the pair of spacecraft have lasted longer than anyone imagined. They are showing signs of being older. In May, she and her team encountered a glitch in the data that normally provides information to scientists back home about what the probe's instruments are doing. The data was garbled when it was returned. It was difficult to address the issue due to the distance involved and the amount of time it takes to communicate.
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