MW Codes, Ciphers, and Puzzle Series: The Pioneer Plaques

One message not meant for us to solve, or at least those living on the Earth, is the coded like message created on the Pioneer Plaques.  These two plaques were sent into space by NASA in effort to communicate with extraterrestrial life- if they happen to intercept or discover the messages.

One plaque was launched with the Pioneer 10 spacecraft on March 2nd, 1972.  Another was sent on Pioneer 11 on April 5th, 1973.  There hasn’t been any ‘reply’ as to whether they have been intercepted, and if so, understood. The last signals received from the crafts were from Pioneer 11 in 1995 and from Pioneer 10 on January 22, 2003.  Pioneer 10 was said to be over 7 billion miles into space at the time.

The idea to send a message into space with the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecrafts was suggested to Carl Sagan by Eric Burgess after a lecture Sagan made about communicating with extraterrestrials.  This was less than a year before Pioneer 10 was scheduled to launch.  Sagan brought up the idea with NASA, and NASA agreed to send a message.  They gave Sagan the responsibility to design a message in quick order.

What would he say? How should he say it so it could be understood by extraterrestrial life forms from another ‘world’?

With the help of Frank Drake, and his wife at the time, Linda, Carl Sagan came up with a plan and designed the plaque that would be placed on both Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11.  A pictorial image was engraved on gold anodized aluminum plaques, and were attached to the spacecraft’s antenna struts.

What do the plaques say?  Simply stated, they reveal when, who, and where the spacecraft originated to anyone who finds it and can decode it.  The information on the plaque attempts to convey, in an universally method of understanding, where earth is located in the galaxy, what we look like, and when we launched the spacecrafts into space.  This story of our existence is condensed down into a few symbols.

They are as follows:

*The symbols in the top left represent the hyperfine transition of Hydrogen, and is key to understanding much of the plaque’s information. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and it is believed intelligent lifeforms from ‘out of this world’ would recognize the transition of the Hydrogen atom being shown. The line between the two symbols, with the number 1 in binary, offer a method for understanding time and length on the plaque.

Scientists explain the following: ‘When Hydrogen atoms change, electromagnetic radiation is released.’ This wave of radiation is used as a basis for measurement.  ‘The radiation lasts .7 nanoseconds, which gives a key to understanding time on the plaque, and it also extends 21 centimeters, giving a key to understanding length/distance on the plaque.’

*The Pulsar Map, the diagram with 15 lines radiating out from a center origin (our sun), is key to understanding where our Sun is located in relation to the 14 nearest Pulsars, and to when the Pioneer Plaques were launched form Earth.

Pulsars emit regular bursts of radiation and the 14 lines, providing a binary numbering system and based from the Hydrogen key, demonstrate the periods of Pulsars. Since these change, time of launch for the craft could be calculated.

The 15th line indicates the Sun’s relative distance to the center of the galaxy.  Below this diagram is then our solar system which shows how the spacecraft was sent from Earth into space, and where Earth is located.

*The Man and Woman image obviously offers some understanding to what we look like for the extraterrestrial who might find a plaque.  Behind the image of the man and woman is an outlined shape of the Pioneer Spacecraft.  We are shown in proportion to the craft.  There are also markers to determine height.  These measurements can relate back to the Hydrogen Key as well.

 

Pioneer 10 was launched towards the star Aldebaran, and Pioneer 11 was sent towards the constellation known as The Eagle, to gather information to send back to Earth. The crafts were not sent out specifically for making contact, but if they happened to be intercepted by ‘someone out there’ NASA hopes they provide some important information about us back here on Earth.

Will the plaques ever be discovered?  Time only knows.  The plaques were manufactured to withstand the ages, millions of ages, so at any time in the future we might hear a reply. Until then, it’s considered a lost treasure in space waiting to be found.

 

 

 

.