Carl Sagan’s Golden Record

Carl Sagan was an astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, professor and science communicator who was fascinated by extra-terrestrial life. You can read about him in Whizz Pop Bang 98: Aliens!

Carl was involved in American space exploration since it began in the 1950s. He put together messages that were sent into outer space in the 1970s on the Voyager Golden Record.

Read more about space in these out-of-this-world issues of Whizz Pop Bang!

By NASA – Great Images in NASA Description, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6455682

Copies of the Golden Record were carried by Voyager I and Voyager II. They contained:

  • Messages in 55 ancient and modern languages
  • Sounds from Earth
  • Images of humans and Earth
By NASA/JPL – The Sounds of Earth Record Cover, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=137443

The discs contained diagrams that explain where Earth is and how to play the record. Scientists spent a long time working out how to communicate these messages to aliens!

Here are some examples of things that were included on Carl Sagan’s Golden Record. You can find a full list of everything that was included here.

Greetings in ancient and modern languages

English (this was recorded by Nick Sagan, Carl’s son, when he was six!)
Akkadian (an ancient language used in Mesopotamia about 6,000 years ago)
“May all be very well.”
Arabic
“Greetings to our friends in the stars. We wish that we will meet you someday.”
Cantonese
“Hi. How are you? Wish you peace, health and happiness.”
Hebrew
“Peace”
Korean
“How are you?”
Nguni
“We greet you, great ones. We wish you longevity”
Polish
“Welcome, creatures from beyond the outer world.”
Rajastani
“Hello to everyone. We are happy here and you be happy there.”
Spanish
“Hello and greetings to all.”
Welsh
“Good health to you now and forever.”

Music

Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F. First Movement, Munich Bach Orchestra, Karl Richter, conductor
New Guinea, men’s house song, recorded by Robert MacLennan
Mexico, “El Cascabel,” performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi México
“Johnny B. Goode,” written and performed by Chuck Berry
Georgian S.S.R., chorus, “Tchakrulo” collected by Radio Moscow
Peru, wedding song, recorded by John Cohen

Images

We can’t include the photographs and diagrams included on the Golden Record because of copyright but you can see some of them here. These show some of the same subjects that featured on it.

If you want to find out more about fantastic scientists like Carl Sagan, subscribe to Whizz Pop Bang, the awesomely amazing science magazine for kids! Learn about inspirational scientists of the past and present every issue – our readers are the in credible scientists of the future!


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