Since the Voyager 1 + 2 launches in 1977, NASA has sent-up another spacecraft that will, eventually, follow them into deep space – the New Horizons probe.
It was launched 2006 to study Pluto – its arrival date is 2015. After a glance at Pluto, off into interstellar space it goes, following on the trails of Voyager 1 + 2.
However, count on intelligent life to be disappointed if they discover the New Horizons spacecraft – especially if, by then, they’ve discovered the golden disc on the two Voyager spacecraft, viewed the “Tetons” image with delight, and harbor high expectations for more.
For the New Horizons spacecraft is apparently empty of such things!
“After we got into the project in 2002, it was suggested we add a plaque and I rejected that simply as a matter of focus,” says Alan Stern, New Horizons’ principal investigator. “We had a small team on a tight budget and I knew it would be a big distraction. I didn’t want to see us being distracted from the project and find ourselves derailing the project or getting into flight and finding we had some problem and wishing we’d been more focused during development.”
If and when disappointed aliens arrive on earth seeking explanations, I just don’t think Stern’s remarks will fly. We better have a few AA prints to hand-out as a gesture of apology and conciliation. Or it’s War of the Worlds for real this time. (I’d suggest a flawless print of “Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite Valley, 1960.”)
Bookmarks