Are Aliens Ghosting Us?
Since 1970’s many attempts have been made to contact the extraterrestrials. We surely can not be alone. Are we?
Universe is vast and Earth can not be the only planet with life. But where are they?
We humans have been sending them messages and they are not replying back. Reminds me of that one girl. Why won’t you text me back Shanaya?
There could be many reasons why aliens are not replying. They may be primitive species not evolved enough or maybe they do not have the technology or maybe they are not interested. Just like Shanaya.
Arecibo Message
The first attempt to send message to the extraterrestrials was done in 1974 by Frank Drake and Carl Sagan of NASA, when they transmitted a radio message from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
Their aim was not to start a conversation with the aliens but they were just showing their technological capabilities.
The message was directed towards Messier-13, a cluster of a stars 25,000 lightyears away.
By the time it will reach there, the star system may have moved away. It was transmitted in a binary code that could be decoded to create a simple graphical representation.
(Wikipedia Commons)
The image, sent in binary code, depicted a human stick figure, a double-helix DNA structure, a model of a carbon atom and a diagram of a telescope. Human stick figure does imply sending the first ever emoji.
In our relentless pursuit of cosmic chat buddies, humans continued to unleash our interstellar chatterboxes into the great unknown.
We had the Pioneer duo (10 and 11), the Voyager tag team (1 and 2), and even the dynamic Vega duo (1 and 2).
Because when it comes to making friends in space, we don’t hold back! The key is perseverance. I think the HR department (of the universe) is going to have a long chat with us about harrasment and stuff.
Pioneer Duo (10 and 11)
Pioneer — 10 was launched in 1972 and Pioneer — 11 was launched in 1973.
They weighed around 250 kg and were powered by radioisotope thermoelectric generators. Basically they were nuclear powered.
(NASA)
They had specific mission objectives. They were
- Study the solar wind and magnetic field around Jupiter.
- Study the atmosphere and moons of Jupiter.
- Determine the composition of the dust in the asteroid belt.
- Measure the effects of Jupiter’s gravity on the spacecraft.
They were successful in their respective missions. Since they had similar missions they were carrying similar instruments.
Along with instruments they were also carrying a gold-anodized aluminum plaque with a message designed to communicate with potential extraterrestrial beings.
The Pioneer plaques included:
- Pictorial Message: Showed a man and a woman, spacecraft silhouette.
- Numerical Info: Binary 1-10 representation (lines and dashes).
- Astronomical Info: Solar system map, Sun marked, spacecraft's path to Jupiter.
- Hydrogen Atom: Diagram to represent life’s basic element, hydrogen.
(NASA)
The idea here was to make this message easy for any potential alien readers, assuming they can read.
Just a heads up to our alien friends, our spacecraft is zooming at crazy high speeds, so good luck trying to catch it!
The last Pioneer’s signal came in 2003 but it is still moving away from us.
Voyager Duo (1 and 2)
They were launched by NASA in 1977, it consisted of two spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, whose primary mission was to study the outer planets of our solar system. They weighed around 750 kg.
(NASA)
Voyager’s mission objectives:
- Explore the outer planets of the solar system: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
- Study the atmospheres, rings, and moons of these planets.
- Measure the magnetic fields and plasmas of these planets.
- Investigate the solar wind and interstellar medium at the edge of the solar system.
It also a succeeded in all its objectives. Similar to the Pioneer mission, they also had message for the aliens in the form of a golden record.
The records are made of gold-plated copper, which is durable and reflective. They are about the size of a 33⅓ rpm vinyl record, and they contain 115 images and 90 minutes of sounds.
(Wikipedia)
The images on the golden records include photographs of Earth, its people, and its natural wonders.
It also had instructions on how to play the vinyl. Obviously! It’s a vinyl, even I will need instruction on how to play it.
The sounds include music, spoken greetings in 59 languages, and natural sounds such as whales singing and rain falling.
No rock and roll? Disappointing.
Voyagers are still going on and Voyager 1 is the farther most human made object from the sun. You can track them at https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/
(NASA)
There have been some other attempts to send aliens messages using radio frequency or other space probes such as Vega (1 and 2) by USSR which was accompanied by a plaque. There is this Lucy plaque sent towards the Trojan asteroid.
(NASA)
No matter when the plaque is sent there is one common thing among all. The below image —
These are called pulsar maps. Believe it or not but these maps will give the aliens direction to our solar system.
I don’t why we would want to tell aliens about us or give them direction to our planets. Have the scientist like not seen any alien related movie?
Let’s just hope no advance civilization (atleast advanced than us) find these signals or plaques. Who knows what the consequences will be?
Sources
- The Possibility of Life — Jaime Green
- https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/golden-record/whats-on-the-record/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record
- https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/vega-1/in-depth/
- NASA
- Wikipedia
