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Home , Ann Druyan, Delta E, Eric Burgess, Frank Drake, Pioneer 11, Pioneer 4

“We vlogen met een knal...”

AMBASSADORS OF HUMANKIND

Making a mark in the vast expanse of space

It almost sounds like a riddle: man-made objects travelling at speeds in excess of ten kilometres per second at a distance of many billions of kilometres. These are the man-made objects that are farthest away and, in a way, they serve as ambassadors of humankind. Each object was launched in the seventies and carries with it a symbol to signify humanity’s achievements: they are and 11, and and 2.

TEXT Benjamin Broekhuizen, Student Aerospace Engineering, Editor-in-chief Leonardo Times

s one might expect, these was feasible. The Air Force was to use its and perform a lunar "yby. However, un- Awere not intended solely as ambas- - launcher from the Thor family, like , most of the early Pioneer sadors: each individual spacecraft !rst a precursor to the family of launch missions failed to achieve their respective carried out its speci!c primary scienti!c vehicles. mission goals. mission – each mission providing a wealth of scienti!c information – before entering The !rst launch of a Pioneer spacecraft, Pi- NEW PIONEERS into its open-ended !nal leg of the mis- oneer 0 (also known as Thor-Able 1 or sim- A more successful era of Pioneers is sion. This open-ended !nal leg sees the ply Pioneer), resulted in a complete failure formed by the spacecraft that were spacecraft travelling on a trajectory that shortly after leaving the launch pad on launched from the mid-sixties onwards, will take them outside of our , August 17, 1958. The second launch, only as the Pioneer name was once again used to truly ‘boldly go where no man has gone two months later, was the !rst spacecraft for exploratory missions. These spacecraft before’. launch carried out by the newly estab- are Pioneer 6 through Pioneer 9 (alterna- lished NASA. While the launch was some- tive names Pioneer A through Pioneer D), PIONEERING PIONEER thing more of a success, a partial failure in which were successfully launched as part The Pioneer programme stretches back the third stage meant the mission missed of monitoring the ‘weather’ of the solar into the !fties, even before NASA itself the . The mission did return new in- system. Much like meteorological satel- became operational. The Pioneer pro- formation about the space environment, lites gather vital information to predict gramme was envisioned by the US Air but the mission goal of an orbit around weather on , the Pioneers are meant Force, which operated its own missions, the Moon was not achieved. On March to provide into the weather of the just as the US Army did. The mission goal 3, 1959, Pioneer 4 was launched atop the solar system and to warn humanity when- was to establish a lunar orbit to study II launcher and subsequently man- ever a solar storm is heading Earth’s way. the Moon and prove that such a mission aged to achieve Earth’s An additional Pioneer spacecraft, Pioneer

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Figure 1. The , as sent aboard Pioneer 10 and 11.

E, was launched in 1969, but was lost paring a message from humankind. He frequency of 1420MHz. The counterpart when its Delta-E launcher failed. Apart designed the plaque with , to the symbol I, serving as the binary digit from the name, these spacecraft have a fellow astronomer, who is known for 1, is the symbol –, as the binary digit 0. little in common with the earlier Pioneer the on the probability of spacecraft, which in turn varied from one other intelligent and communicative life To the right of this symbol, the silhouettes another. forms within the Milky Way. Thus, the idea of a male and female can clearly be for the Pioneer plaque was born. seen. The man is waving, illustrating both Pioneer 10 and 11, launched in 1972 and Earth customs and the way the limbs can 1973 respectively, again di! er much from The plaque, as depicted in move. To the right of the woman, brackets Pioneer 6 through 9. Where Pioneer 6 Figure 1, is a pictorial message from hu- can be seen, indicating her height in the previously established binary unit. There through 9 stayed relatively close to home, mankind to whichever extra-terrestrial is a " aw in the plate, as the height is sup- the goal for Pioneer 10 and 11 was alto- life form # nds the plaque – although the posed to read I – – –, which translates to gether di! erent. They were both to visit vast expanse of space means that the eight, which in turn means a height of , to then go on into the ‘interstellar probability of the plaques ever being 1.68m. The height of the man is not given. medium’, which meant an open-ended seen by another living creature is very In the background of the two human # g- mission to the edge of the solar system small indeed. Whereas the image of the ures, the basic silhouette of the Pioneer and beyond. was to also visit naked man and woman might be the spacecraft is shown on the same scale, along the way. It is this open-end- most striking, perhaps the most interest- clearly showing its prominent 2.74m dish ed character of their mission that essen- ing image is actually situated in the top antenna. tially makes them ideal ambassadors of left of the plaque: the diagram with the humankind. two circles. This symbolises the hyper# ne To the left of the human silhouettes, a transition of , which is relevant relatively complex radial pattern can be THE PIONEER PLAQUE for two reasons: # rst, hydrogen is by far seen. The centre of this symbol signi# es , a journalist and lecturer who the most abundant element in the uni- the and the horizontal line extending had written extensively on the Pioneer verse; second, it serves to specify a unit past the human # gures indicates the rela- programme since its beginning, " oated of distance and a unit of time, to be used tive position of the Sun to the centre of the idea of including some sort of mes- all over the plaque. What appears to be a the . The fourteen other lines indi- sage on the Pioneer spacecraft while vis- Roman numeral I, is meant as the binary cate relative distances of fourteen iting the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). representation of the same number. As a to the Sun. Here, the binary unit of time is The well-known astronomer and science unit of length, this symbolises a distance used to express the period of each respec- populariser supported the of 21cm, the wavelength associated with tive . This should provide the oppor- idea and, when NASA approved the plan, the transition between electron states. As tunity for any aliens reading the plaque, to was assigned the delicate task of pre- a unit of time, it signi# es the associated determine where the Sun is located.

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We vlogen met.. 0913.indd 41 9/19/13 17:59 Below this pattern, at the bottom of the rare alignment of the outer in the the Sun was to be included, but the label plaque, is a schematic representation of late seventies, allowing the spacecraft to EMI opposed it. the solar system. The binary digits are use gravitational assists along their grand used to denote the relative distance to tour. However, budgetary constraints The gramophone record also features sev- the Sun of each respective – and meant these grand plans never came to eral images relating to the solar system , as it was still considered a planet at pass and a slightly more modest tour was and planet Earth. Much like the Pioneer the time of launch. It also features a rep- to become the Voyager programme. Plaque, information as to a de" nition of resentation of the Pioneer spacecraft itself units and scales is provided. Many images and its trajectory from Earth, past Jupiter THE are also annotated to give further infor- and towards the open-ended leg: outside Both Voyager spacecraft carry a Voyager mation as to the scale and other proper- the solar system. As mentioned previ- Golden Record: a gramophone record ties of the depicted object. The images ously, Pioneer 10 and 11 are on di! erent which, much like the Pioneer plaque, is include photographs and diagrams on trajectories, as the Pioneer 11 mission also meant as a symbolic statement from hu- the planets, the human anatomy, Earth’s included Saturn. However, the plaques for mankind. The Golden record is shown in geography, human life and space explora- Pioneer 10 and 11 are the same, meaning Figure 2. Again Carl Sagan played a role of tion. that Pioneer 11’s plaque is inaccurate at signi" cance in assembling this ‘message best and an interstellar lie at worst. in a bottle’, as he chaired the committee But perhaps the most remarkable inclu- that was to decide on the content of the sion on the Golden Record are brainwaves. VOYAGER record. An hour long recording of the brainwaves The Voyager programme was an o! shoot of has been transferred onto of the Mariner programme, as Voyager 1 The record contains greetings in a total of the record. In a way, even human thought and 2 were originally to be named Mari- 56 languages, including the English ‘hello is captured on the Golden Record and ner 11 and 12. The Mariner programme from the children of planet Earth’ – spoken has made its way into the vast expanse of featured several missions to targets like by Carl Sagan’s son Nick – and the Dutch space. Mars, and , and Mariner 11 ‘hartelijke groeten aan iedereen’ (sincere and 12 were envisioned to undertake mis- greetings to everyone). This is followed by Of course, a record needs a cover, which sions to Jupiter and Saturn. However, the a section " lled with recordings of ‘sounds is itself a work of art and . It bor- spacecraft di! ered signi" cantly from the of Earth’, which includes animal sounds, rows the unit de" nition based on the hy- other Mariners and their missions, so the Morse code and natural phenomena like drogen atom from the Pioneer Plaque, in spacecraft were rebranded to Voyager. thunder and volcanoes. For everyone addition to the Sun-pulsar map. The cover with an interest in aerospace, sound clips uses this de" nition to explain how the re- There had been plans for missions to the of an F-111 Aardvark # yby and the launch cord is to be used. The binary code is used outer planets in the solar system, even go- of the mighty are included. The to explain the proper rotational velocity of ing as far as a ‘Grand Tour’, in which a num- next section features a wide selection of the record – 3.6 seconds per rotation – and ber of spacecraft would visit the outer music, ranging from classical music to folk the playing time of one side is explained, planets on a number of di! erent trajecto- music and more contemporary music. which is one hour as would un- ries. This was made possible by the rather Originally, song Here Comes derstand it. The diagram also shows how NASA

Figure 5. An impression of Pioneer 10 the outer solar system.

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Figure 2. The Voyager Golden Record, which is carried by Voyager 1 and 2. NASA

Figure 3. Trajectories of Pioneer 10 and 11 and Voyager Figure 4. An impression of . 1 and 2.

the needle – included with the record – is MAKING The problem here is that ‘leaving the solar to be placed in order for the record to be The sheer size and relative emptiness of system’ is a slightly more ambiguous term played. the means that it is highly un- than one might think, as there are several likely that one of these spacecraft will de! nitions that could be used as to what To the right of the basic playing instruc- ever encounter another living creature, constitutes the boundary of the solar sys- tions are slightly more complicated in- let alone an intelligent one. Even if it were tem. structions as to how the images are to be to run into a highly intelligent extra-ter- restrial life form, it is by no means certain Consequently, there are con" icting de! ni- viewed. The video signal is explained us- they will be able to crack the code of the tions over whether or not Voyager 1 has ing the same binary code as on the Plaque or Record. However, at the very actually left the solar system. NASA stated map and the general playing instructions, least they will probably notice that these the consensus among the Voyager sci- and if all goes well, whoever is playing the symbols were the work of some other ci- ence team is that it is still within the so- record will see a certain calibration image vilisation, made up of other life forms far, lar system, albeit in a new region called – a simple circle, which is the ! rst image far away. the ‘magnetic highway’, where energetic on the record. particles change dramatically. The cosmo- But even if they were never to be seen by graphical boundary of the solar system any other life form, the act of despatch- extends all the way to the Oort Cloud, On January 19, 2006, New Horizons was ing such time capsules is in itself reward- meaning that Voyager will be ‘with us’ launched atop its V launcher. This ing and inspiring. Much like the message for many years to come, probably signi! - mission is to study Pluto and its , af- in a bottle, there is a high chance that it cantly past the point its power system will ter which it will also make its way outside will never be read or seen again and the have given out. our solar system. It will join the Pioneer chance of a response is so small that one References and spacecraft missions as an ambassador could almost be forgiven for thinking the whole undertaking utterly pointless. But of humankind and it has memorabilia of NASA Solar System Exploration leaving a mark, guaranteeing some form its own on board. A collection of 434,738 http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/ names is stored on a compact disc, as of longevity through the act of reaching out, is part of the human experience. NASA allowed members of the general NASA JPL Voyager Website public to submit their name for inclu- http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/ RECENT DEVELOPMENTS sion. A piece of SpaceShipOne, the Scaled On September 12, 2013, it was reported JHU/APL New Horizons Website Composites spaceplane, is also included. that Voyager 1 had left the solar system, http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ Its most striking cargo is small portion of which would make it the ! rst man-made the ashes of astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, object to do so. But did it actually achieve NASA Voyager Status Update on Voy- who died in 1997. As Tombaugh was the this? There is more to this story than ! rst ager 1 Location: discoverer of Pluto, his ashes travelling to meets the eye. It had previously been an- http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news. php?release=2013-107 Pluto seems like a poetically justi! ed jour- nounced, on a number of occasions, that ney. the spacecraft had left the solar system.

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