Earth In A BOTTLE?
Dress Sharp
What The IF you were about to have a meeting with Aliens and you wanted to made a good FIRST IMPRESSION?
Carl Sagan and his colleagues took up this very challenge when crafting the “messages in a bottle” that they attached to the Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft. (Spoiler: no bottles, but plaques and record suitable for playing by alien DJ’s!).
The brilliant BLAKE LEWIN joins us to talk about his amazing experiences working with Sagan on creating a version of the Voyager record for us Earthlings, and his further adventures in producing the DVD flown on the Mars Phoenix lander. Colorful stories of space archaeology in the making, and pro tips for all of us on how to make our own!
Blake Lewin
The Golden Record cover shown with its extraterrestrial instructions. Credit: NASA/JPL
Click for a detailed diagram
MORE ON THE IF THIS WEEK:
1. The Voyager
Watch the documentary The Farthest to learn about the people and events behind the famous Voyager mission. To find out more about the Golden Record onboard, here is NASA on everything from its making to its contents.
2. Fiction and Speculation
There’s still much we do not know about the universe, but that sure doesn’t stop us from guessing! Read this article by Susan Stepney to learn about the ways science and science fiction influence one another. For those curious about extraterrestrial life, here’s the famous Drake Equation for estimating the number of other civilization that may exist in our galaxy.
3. History of Aliens
Belief and curiosity in life beyond Earth is by no means new. Read this article for “A Brief history of the Extraterrestrial Intelligence Concept”.
4. Pluto in VR
While a few years ago Pluto was only a clump of blurry pixels, today we have clear images of what it looks like in VR! Take a virtual tour of Pluto here.
Got an IF?
Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big!
Special Thanks
To Illia Zheng and Howard Zheng for their help with the show.
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