NASA's Europa Clipper to send message to aliens, emit millions of soundwaves

When the National Aeronautics and Space Administration launches the Europa Clipper mission in October 2024, it will also send a carefully curated message sealed within the spacecraft's vault, reports the New York Post. Europa Clipper spacecraft will blast off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Station in October 2024 and will send a steady stream into the ether of 2.6 million soundwaves of humankind. The spacecraft will carry a triangular plate, bearing symbols and inscriptions. Crafted from tantalum, it will embody the spirit of exploration and the quest for understanding.

2.6 Million names

The outward-facing panel will have an engraving of US Poet Laureate Ada Limon’s poem "In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa," with over 2.6 million names submitted by the public. Waveforms representing the word "water" spoken in 103 languages, have been etched on the plate. It will highlight the universal significance of this vital element.

Triangular plate

The triangular plate will also have the Drake Equation, the 1961 mathematical formulation, created to estimate the possibility of finding advanced civilizations beyond Earth.


Lori Glaze, Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement, "The message of connection through water, essential for all forms of life as we know it, perfectly illustrates Earth’s tie to this mysterious ocean world we are setting out to explore."

Europa Clipper will take nearly six years to reach near Jupiter’s moon, it may reach there in April 2030. It will beam out the 'richly layered dispatch' of the millions of names while circumventing the satellite.

Earlier in 1977, the Voyager spacecraft’s Golden Record emitted two identical phonograph records containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth into space for any intelligent aliens to find.

FAQs

When will Europa Clipper reach Jupiter’s moon?
Europa Clipper will take nearly six years to reach near Jupiter’s moon, it may reach there in April 2030.

What message will Europa Clipper send?
Europa Clipper spacecraft will send a steady stream into the ether of 2.6 million soundwaves of humankind. The spacecraft will carry a triangular plate, bearing symbols and inscriptions. Crafted from tantalum, it will embody the spirit of exploration and the quest for understanding.