It’s the 1970s, and we’re about to send two spacecraft (Voyager 1 & 2) into space. These two spacecraft will eventually leave our solar system and become the most distant man-made objects…ever. How can we leave our mark on them in the case that other spacefarers find them in the distant future?
The Golden Record.
We placed an ambitious message aboard Voyager 1 and 2, a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials. The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record, a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.
The Golden Record Cover
The outward facing cover of the golden record carries instructions in case it is ever found. Detailing to its discoverers how to decipher its meaning.
In the upper left-hand corner is an easily recognized drawing of the phonograph record and the stylus carried with it. The stylus is in the correct position to play the record from the beginning. Written around it in binary arithmetic is the correct time of one rotation of the record. The drawing indicates that the record should be played from the outside in.
The information in the upper right-hand portion of the cover is designed to show how the pictures contained on the record are to be constructed from the recorded signals. The top drawing shows the typical signal that occurs at the start of the picture. The picture is made from this signal, which traces the picture as a series of vertical lines, similar to ordinary television. Immediately below shows how these lines are to be drawn vertically, with staggered “interlace” to give the correct picture rendition. Below that is a drawing of an entire picture raster, showing that there are 52 vertical lines in a complete picture.
Immediately below this is a replica of the first picture on the record to permit the recipients to verify that they are decoding the signals correctly. A circle was used in this picture to ensure that the recipients use the correct ratio of horizontal to vertical height in picture reconstruction.
The drawing in the lower left-hand corner of the cover is the pulsar map previously sent as part of the plaques on Pioneers 10 and 11. It shows the location of the solar system with respect to 14 pulsars, whose precise periods are given.
The drawing containing two circles in the lower right-hand corner is a drawing of the hydrogen atom in its two lowest states, with a connecting line and digit 1 to indicate that the time interval associated with the transition from one state to the other is to be used as the fundamental time scale, both for the time given on the cover and in the decoded pictures.
The Contents
The contents of the record were selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University and his associates.
They assembled 115 images and a variety of natural sounds, such as those made by surf, wind and thunder, birds, whales and other animals. To this, they added musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings from Earth-people in fifty-five languages, and printed messages from President Carter and U.N. Secretary General Waldheim.
Listen to some of the sounds of the Golden Record on our Soundcloud page:
Golden Record: Greetings to the Universe
Golden Record: Sounds of Earth
Songs from Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode,” to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony are included on the golden record. For a complete list of songs, visit: https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/golden-record/whats-on-the-record/music/
The 115 images included on the record, encoded in analog form, range from mathematical definitions to humans from around the globe. See the images here: https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/golden-record/whats-on-the-record/images/
Making the Golden Record
Many people were instrumental in the design, development and manufacturing of the golden record.
Blank records were provided by the Pyral S.A. of Creteil, France. CBS Records contracted the JVC Cutting Center in Boulder, CO to cut the lacquer masters which were then sent to the James G. Lee Record Processing center in Gardena, CA to cut and gold plate eight Voyager records.
The record is constructed of gold-plated copper and is 12 inches in diameter. The record’s cover is aluminum and electroplated upon it is an ultra-pure sample of the isotope uranium-238. Uranium-238 has a half-life of 4.468 billion years.
Learn more about the golden record HERE.
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Official Song of the FIFA U17 World Cup India 2017 - Kar Ke Dikhla De Goal
Bhagat singh Amar rahe! Chandrasekhar azad Amar rahe, Raj guru Amar rahe, Sukhdevji Amar rahe! Bharat mata ki Jay!
Formula one or F-1 is one of the most prestigious and technologically advanced sports in the world.The never-ending battle for supremacy makes F-1 one of the most competitive, expensive and demanding sports in the world.
It is a game of chess played at 300 Kmph.The real war though is fought behind closed doors in the secrecy of the team’s headquarters.
As March 13 marks the start of a new season of this motor sport, we decided that it was high time we unveil the technology that underlies the stardom of the automobile industry - The formula one car.
From questions like what enables a formula one car to go upside down a tunnel? to awfully simple questions like does the F-1 car have an ignition key and why not? we will try to cover it all. Most importantly, we will try to weave what you already know to explain new concepts.
The rough list of contents for this series are:
A brief history of Formula one.
Aerodynamics- The art of glueing the car to the ground.
The nucleus of the car- F-1 engine and the gearbox.
One has to stop!! -Brakes and steering wheel.
Tyre and fuel technology- This rarely is given the importance that it needs.
Fun facts and trivia with every post.
If you have any questions that you have in mind to be answered and topics that we have missed, please post it in the comments section below. We would be delighted to address them.
Hang onto your hats, it’s going to be a wild and crazy ride ahead!
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