The Red Letter

or Messages From Beyond

Messages from Carl Edward Sagan 1934-1996 Postcards from Curiosity on the planet Mars & Voyager 1 from interstellar space

Like fledglings leaving the nest to soar into a wide open sky, we are beginning to reach into "the beyond"

Carl Sagan made sure the Voyager spacecraft both included "Messages From Earth",
"The Golden Record".
On it is a message from us, for any intelligent life Voyager should encounter in its far travels.

To hear the greeting in Portuguese Click Here.The voice is that of Dr. Janet Sternberg.
The message translated to English is "Peace and happiness to all". 

With my thanks to Dr. Sternberg for agreeing to have her clip included on this blog.
 (Janet, your voice on the Voyagers is now beginning a new leg of its' journey...Bon Voyage!)

Still working 35 years later the Voyagers are signalling that they are finally beginning to leave the heliosphere
 and will soon be sailing into interstellar space. Amazingly this is happening at the same time that Curiosity is searching for evidence of life on Mars. Before he passed away, Carl Sagan also recorded a message for Mars. Here it is:

"My parents were not scientists. They knew almost nothing about science. But in introducing me simultaneously to skepticism and to wonder, they taught me the two uneasily cohabiting modes  of thought that are central to the scientific method." Carl Sagan NASA/JPL's Voyager

Dr. Carl Edward Sagan A Message To Mars "Whatever the reason you're on Mars, I'm glad you're there, and I wish I was with you." Carl Sagan NASA, & many others wish he were here today. Sagan & Viking 1  The first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars and perform its mission

 Some early Mars Science Lab, Curiosity rover postcards from Gale Crater, Mars:

All civilizations become either spacefaring or extinct. Carl Sagan Image of Voyagers 1 & 2 the edge of the heliosphere

Curiosity's parachute descent The heat shield falling away Landing on the surface Curiosity's landing site A closer look at Curiosity

"The total number of stars in the Universe is larger than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the planet Earth." “We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture  of ignorance and power  is going to blow up in our faces.” Carl Sagan

From the surface of Mars   Curiosity's first view of a curious landscape

The Blue Letter Message to the People of Earth

To The Spirit of Carl Sagan... "Billions & Billions" of thanks!

Enjoy.

© 2012 MU-Peter Shimon

You might also like to see: / Oh Look...  We're Here! / Fly Me to the Moon... / Desiderata /