NASA’s “Golden Record” From the 1977 Voyager Mission Will Blow Your Mind
This project was an attempt to communicate with aliens — and it’s still out there.
NASA was not about to just sit around sipping on pumpkin spice lattes letting Pope Francis get all the “unusual new record” glory. No way. BBC Radio 3 is streaming an hour long playlist of selections from the “Golden Record” project of 1977, which was led by author-astrophysicist Carl Sagan in an attempt to communicate with extra-terrestrial life.
In 1977, NASA launched the two Voyager spacecrafts with gold-plated records featuring sound collages showcasing the diverse culture of planet Earth — from Chuck Berry to Bach, industrial machinery to volcanic eruptions. Nearly 40 years later, the gold records, etched with the message “To the makers of music — all worlds, all times” are still out there, floating around in actual space. Like, in the sky. Just, out there with the moon shit and mystery water we keep finding. It’s enough to give you a headache thinking about it.
Along with the Chuck Berry and Bach songs, the gold albums include human greetings in 55 different languages, animal noises, the sound of a baby crying, footsteps on gravel, and the hum of planes and trains. It’s basically the perfect noise album.
The hour long stream of the select cuts from the “Golden Record” project are embedded above, but if you have a spare five hours, here’s the whole thing:
Photos by NASA / Hulton Archive / Getty Images