klaes@mtwain.dec.com (CUP/ML, MLO5-2/G1 8A, 223-3283) (09/29/88)
The famous plaque on the U.S. space probes PIONEER 10 and 11
is designed for anyone who encounters the probes on their journey
through interstellar space to hopefully receive some idea of what the
crafts are and who built them. The chances of these satellites
being found in the incredible vastness of the Milky Way Galaxy are
very small, but since the chance was there, it was taken.
The plaque was designed late in PIONEER's construction by
Carl Sagan and his second wife, Linda, when they realized that the
probes would be leaving the Sol system after flying by the planets
Jupiter and Saturn. It is six by nine inches in diameter, and placed
between struts on the side of the probes, where it should be shielded
from most space debris and last as long as the spaceships are estimated
to, roughly one billion years. In that time, the probes will come
within a few light years of several star systems, though whether any of
them have intelligent lifeforms which can travel to other stars and
detect such small vessels is unknown. A lot of the PIONEERs' chances
to be found are based on many factors and just pure luck.
The plaque's design is relatively simple, and assumes that
the beings who find the probes have a scientific way of thinking
similar to humans. Of the etchings on it, there is the atomic
symbol for hydrogen, the most common natural element in the Universe.
There is also an etching of fourteen lines radiating from a single
point of the left side of the plaque. This indicates the location
of fourteen pulsars (rapidly rotating neutron stars) in relation
to Sol, to serve not only as a guide to locate our star system,
but to give the recipients of the PIONEERS an idea of when the probes
were launched, as stars change positions as they move through the
galaxy, and if the beings can plot star courses over time, they may
know when the vessels were launched.
Near the center of the plaque are drawings of two human beings,
male and female. They are nude and have facial features representing
the various races of humanity. The male is also raising his right arm
and extending his hand palm flat in a gesture of what is hoped to be
interpreted as a friendly greeting. The female is slightly shorter
than the male, and next to her is a binary code telling how tall the
average human is. Behind them is an outline sketch of the PIONEER probe,
to give the beings who find the vehicle yet another idea just how big
we are. This drawing caused the biggest stir of all for the plaque
and NASA, as some wrongly accused NASA of sending "smut" into space,
as the man and woman were without clothing (I personally think it would
have been ridiculous to show them *with* any type of clothing, as it was
assumed the aliens would have enough trouble trying to figure the plaque
out, and they might interpret clothing as a biological part of our bodies;
plus what clothes could they wear which would represent *all* styles of
dress everywhere? The situation would get ridiculous very fast).
Feminists complained that the woman was not only shorter than the
man, but just seemed to stand there doing nothing. Keep in mind that
Linda Sagan is the one who drew the man and woman representatives of
the human race, so I doubt she would have drawn them the way she did
if she had felt any sexism about the characters.
At the bottom of the plaque is a representation of our solar
system, with Sol at the left and extending to Pluto on the right.
Saturn is shown with a line through its center to represent its
rings (Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune were not known to have rings in
1972). The small circle representing Earth is filled in, and
PIONEER is shown flying between Jupiter and Saturn with an arrowed
line from Earth to the probe. There is also a binary code next to
each planet and Sol, indicating the size of each world.
Sagan wanted to make another, more detailed plaque for the
VOYAGER probes - which are also heading into interstellar space -
in 1977, but it was decided instead to make a gold record for each
probe, one which is designed to reproduce over one hundred carefully
picked photos of our solar system and human activity, along with
various selections of music, Earth sounds, and people talking in
fifty-five human languages. I highly recommend Sagan's 1978 book on
the project, MURMURS OF EARTH, from Random House. It goes into great
detail on the record as well as the PIONEER plaque, where you will
find a picture of it. I must admit I am surprised the original poster
said he could not find any pictures of the plaque, as I've seen it in
at least one dozen space exploration and astronomy books over the years.
As I said earlier, the chances of any of the four spacecraft
being found before they decay are incredibly slim, but not entirely
impossible. I think the beings most likely to find them will be
our space-faring descendants as they spread out to explore and
colonize the stars, as they will know the probes are out there, what
direction they headed, and how far they have gotten in their journeys.
PIONEER and VOYAGER will probably best serve as time capsules for
our distant children. It would be an interesting yet sad thought
to think that the plaques and records these probes carry could end up
up being the only records left of the human race on Earth if we
carelessly destroy ourselves.
Larry Klaestim@attdso.ATT.COM (Tim J Ihde) (09/30/88)
In article <8809281753.AA11817@decwrl.dec.com> klaes@mtwain.dec.com (CUP/ML, MLO5-2/G1 8A, 223-3283) writes:
The famous plaque on the U.S. space probes PIONEER 10 and 11 . . .
Near the center of the plaque are drawings of two human beings,
male and female. They are nude and have facial features representing
the various races of humanity. . .
. . . some wrongly accused NASA of sending "smut" into space,
as the man and woman were without clothing . . .
I seem to recall reading a humorous response to this by Sagan, who's wife
(as the poster pointed out) designed the plaque. He asked the objectors if
they would be satisfied if they drew little fig leaves over the characters -
and then placed next to them a stork bearing a bundle. Sagan went on to
suggest that the true level of our society could be expressed by the
inclusion of a likeness of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny as well.
--
Tim J Ihde att!attdso!tim
(201) 898-6687 tim@attdso.att.com
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