To celebrate his birthday and commemorate his life, here is the story of Carl Sagan’s Golden Record.
This is a photo of the “Golden Record” which is attached to both Voyager 1 & 2. It is a time capsule of sorts, intended to communicate the story of our species and our home planet to extraterrestrials. A similar plaque was attached to Voyager’s predecessors, Pioneer 10 and 11; but the golden record contains a much more whole and ambitious message. The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record, a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.