NASA has released copies of records from Voyager gold records

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Voyager gold plate , which was sent to deep space in 1977 on the body of the Voyager-1 and Voyager-2 spacecraft. The records contain greetings in 55 languages, including Russian and Ukrainian, various sounds and a lot of music (78% of the content of the disc).



For many, it was a pleasant surprise when NASA launched the Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to release a limited number of copies of the famous record. But the interest in the project turned out to be so great, and so much money was collected (almost $ 1.4 million) that in the end it was decided to release records (and CD) for free sale.



The golden record of Voyager in 1977 was composed of a group of scientists and artists, the commission was headed by Karl Sagan himself. This is a copper, gold-plated information plate that records audio and video signals. A phonographic capsule and a needle for playing a recording are packed in an aluminum case with it. On the case for aliens engraved diagram depicting the installation of the needle on the recording surface, the playback speed and method of converting video signals into an image.



The record was the only possible recording format, because cosmic radiation would quickly destroy any magnetic recording.



The rotation speed of the plate was reduced from the standard 33 1/3 RPM to 16 2/3 RPM, which reduced the sound quality, but increased the recording time from 27 to 90 minutes.





Machine for the production of a gold plate "Voyager", June 30, 1977. Photo: NASA / JPL-Caltech



Like on the Pioneer plate, this record contains a map of pulsars, which shows the position of the Sun in the Galaxy, the emission scheme of a hydrogen atom to produce metric and time units, a photo of the solar spectrum, the composition of gases in our atmosphere and other information that will give aliens detailed information about the human species. A total of 115 images are encoded on the plate.



“The chances that Voyager will meet aliens in a huge emptiness of space are small — some say they are infinitely small — but we took the job seriously,” said creative project director Ann Druyan. “From the moment Sagan first proposed the project to Tim Ferris and me, it felt like something mystical.”





Session to record the Voyager gold record, June 29, 1977. Photo: NASA / JPL-Caltech



This is a real masterpiece, a concentrated cast of the achievements of human civilization and culture, as well as all the most important things that represent our planet. The disc presents the music of various artists. Musicologists chose 27 pieces for recording, including works by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Stravinsky.



Scientists have decided that these works will become informative for aliens, even if they are deaf or if their ears work in a different frequency range. Even in this case, they will be able to understand the meaning of music through mathematics, since mathematics is the universal language of any musical work. In the works of great composers they will find symmetries - repetitions, inversions, specular reflections and other mathematical concepts.



The works of Chuck Berry, Louis Armstrong and Blind Willie Johnson are selected with meaning. Each of these works in some ways describes the "Voyager" and travel to uncharted worlds.



Non-Western music makes up more than half of the music collection: this is the classical music of India, Java and Japan, the Chinese work for the 7-string instrument Qixianqin, composed 2500 years ago by the Chinese composer Bo-I (), the folk music of Peru, Bulgaria, Australia, Africa, Azerbaijani music for bagpipes and Georgian choir singing. In addition, the flute from the Solomon Islands and the ritual singing of New Guinea were recorded on the record. According to some scholars, it may coincide with the singing of the Stone Age people, when our ancestors first began to compose music.



In addition, a 12-minute essay “Sounds of the Earth” was recorded on the record. Everything is there: waves, laughter, earthquake, crickets, chimpanzees, thunder, rain, footsteps, a crying child, a kiss - this is just a tiny part of the sounds presented.



All this can now be bought by every music lover and astronaut enthusiast. Discs are offered for sale in the format of vinyl records and standard CD.



The CD edition was produced by Ozma Records studio, and the preliminary acceptance of orders began on the Light in the Attic store website . A set of two CDs and books costs $ 50. The expected delivery time is December 15, 2017.



Vinyl records will go on sale in January 2018.