Contents of the Voyager Golden Record

The Voyager Golden Record contains 116 images and a variety of sounds. The items for the record, which is carried on both the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft, were selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University. Included are natural sounds (including some made by animals), musical selections from different cultures and eras, spoken greetings in 59 languages,[1][2] human sounds like footsteps and laughter,[3] and printed messages from President Jimmy Carter and U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim.

The Voyager Golden Record

Cover of the Voyager Golden Record

Greetings

The first audio section contains a spoken greeting in English from then-Secretary-General of the United Nations Kurt Waldheim.

The second audio section ("Greetings in 55 Languages") contains spoken greetings in 55 languages.[4] The original plan was to use greetings made by United Nations delegates, but various problems with these recordings led to new recordings being made at Cornell University by people from the foreign-language departments.[5] The number of native speakers of these 55 languages combined (excluding L2 speakers) is over 4.7 billion people, comprising over 65% of the world population. It includes four Chinese varieties (marked with **), 12 South Asian languages (marked #) and five ancient languages (marked §), listed here in alphabetical order:

Akkadian§ Amoy** (Southern Min/Hokkien) Ancient Greek§ Arabic (Modern Standard) Aramaic Armenian Bengali# Burmese Cantonese** (dialect of Yue) Czech Dutch

English French Ganda German Gujarati# Hebrew Hindi# Hittite§ Hungarian Ila (Zambia) Indonesian

Italian Japanese Kannada# Korean Latin§ Mandarin** Marathi# Nepali# Nguni Nyanja Oriya#

Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi# Quechua Rajasthani# Romanian Russian Serbian Sinhala# Sotho

Spanish Sumerian§ Swedish Telugu# Thai Turkish Ukrainian Urdu# Vietnamese Welsh Wu (Shanghainese)**

Later audio sections contain the spoken greetings in the remaining four languages, including Esperanto and !Kung. The whale sounds were provided by Roger Payne.[6]

This is a list of the recorded greetings in order of appearance on their respective tracks.[7]

Track	Time	Language	Speaker[8][9]	Original	English translation
2	0:00:00	Sumerian	David L. Owen	𒁲𒈠𒃶𒈨𒂗 šilim-ma hé-me-en	May all be well
2	0:00:04	Ancient Greek	Frederick M. Ahl	Οἵτινές ποτ᾿ ἔστε χαίρετε! Εἰρηνικῶς πρὸς φίλους ἐληλύθαμεν φίλοι. (Hoitines pot'este chairete! Eirēnikōs pros philous elēlythamen philoi.)	Greetings to you, whoever you are. We come in friendship to those who are friends.[n 1]
2	0:00:11	Portuguese	Janet Sternberg	Paz e felicidade a todos	Peace and happiness to everyone
2	0:00:14	Cantonese	Stella Fessler	各位好嗎？祝各位平安健康快樂。; Gok^3 wai^2 hou^2 maa^1? Zuk^1 gok^3 wai^2 ping^4 on^1 gin^6 hong^1 faai^3 lok^6.	How's everyone? Wish you peace, health and happiness
2	0:00:19	Akkadian	David L. Owen	Adanniš lu šulmu	May all be very well
2	0:00:22	Russian	Maria Rubinova	Здравствуйте! Приветствую Вас! (Zdrávstvuyte! Privétstvuyu Vas!)	Greetings! I Welcome You!
2	0:00:25	Thai	Ruchira Mendiones	สวัสดีค่ะ สหายในธรณีโพ้น พวกเราในธรณีนี้ขอส่งมิตรจิตมาถึงท่านทุกคน (Sàwàtdee kâ, sàhăai nai torránee póhn. Pûak rao nai torránee née kŏr sòng mít jìt maa tĕung tâan túk kon)	Hello friends from farland. We in this land have sent you warm greeting to you all
2	0:00:32	Arabic	Amahl Shakh	.تحياتنا للأصدقاء في النجوم. يا ليت يجمعنا الزمان Taḥiyyātunā lil-'aṣdiqā' fil-nujūm. Yā laytā yajma`unā al-zamān.	Greetings to the friends in the stars. May time bring us together
2	0:00:38	Romanian	Sanda Huffman	Salutări la toată lumea	Regards to everyone
2	0:00:42	French	Alexandra Littauer	Bonjour tout le monde	Hello everyone
2	0:00:45	Burmese	Maung Myo Lwin	နေကောင်းပါသလား (Naykaungg parsalarr?)	Are you well?
2	0:00:48	Hebrew	David L. Owen	שלום‎ Shalom	Peace
2	0:00:50	Spanish	Erik J. Beukenjamp	Hola y saludos a todos	Hello and greetings to everyone
2	0:00:54	Indonesian	Ilyas Harun	Selamat malam hadirin sekalian, selamat berpisah dan sampai bertemu lagi dilain waktu	Good night, ladies and gentlemen. Goodbye and see you next time
2	0:00:59	Kechua (Quechua)	Fredy Amikcar, Roncalla Fermandez	Kay pachamamta niytapas maytapas rimapallasta runasimipi	Hello to everybody from this Earth, in Quechua language
2	0:01:04	Punjabi	Jatinder N. Paul	ਆਓ ਜੀ, ਜੀ ਆਇਆਂ ਨੂੰ (Aao ji, jee aya nu)	Welcome home. It is a pleasure to receive you
2	0:01:07	Hittite	David L. Owen	aššuli	Greetings / Hail! (literally "in goodwill")
2	0:01:08	Bengali	Subrata Mukherjee	নমস্কার, বিশ্বের শান্তি হোক (Nômośkār, biśśēr śānti hōk)	Hello! Let there be peace everywhere
2	0:01:11	Latin	Frederick M. Ahl	Salvete quicumque estis; bonam erga vos voluntatem habemus, et pacem per astra ferimus	Greetings to you, whoever you are; we have good will towards you and bring peace across space
2	0:01:19	Aramaic	David L. Owen	𐡌𐡋𐡔 or שלם or ܫܠܡ Šəlām	Hello (literally "peace")
2	0:01:22	Dutch	Joan de Boer	Hartelijke groeten aan iedereen	Dear/sincere greetings to everyone
2	0:01:24	German	Renate Born	Herzliche Grüße an alle	Warm greetings to everyone
2	0:01:27	Urdu	Salma Alzal	السلام و عليکم ـ ہم زمين کے رہنے والوں کى طرف سے آپ کو خوش آمديد کہتے ھيں Assalamu alaikum. Hum zameen ke rehne waalon ki taraf se aap ko khush aamdeed kehte hain.	Peace on you. We the inhabitants of this earth send our greetings to you
2	0:01:37	Vietnamese	Trần Trọng Hải	Chân thành gửi tới các bạn lời chào thân hữu	Sincere greetings to you
2	0:01:40	Turkish	Peter Ian Kuniholm	Sayın Türkçe bilen arkadaşlarımız, sabah şerifleriniz hayrolsun	Dear Turkish-speaking friends, may the honors of the morning be upon your heads
2	0:01:45	Japanese	Mari Noda	こんにちは。お元気ですか？ Konnichiwa. O genki desu ka?	Hello (literally "How is your day?".) How are you?
2	0:01:48	Hindi	Omar Alzal	धरती के वासियों की ओर से नमस्कार Dharati ke waasiyon ki or se namaskar	Greetings from the inhabitants of this world
2	0:01:51	Welsh	Frederick M. Ahl [10]	Iechyd da i chi yn awr, ac yn oesoedd	Good health to you now and forever
2	0:01:54	Italian	Debby Grossvogel	Tanti auguri e saluti	Many greetings and wishes
2	0:01:57	Sinhala	Kamal de Abrew	ආයුබෝවන්! Āyubōwan!	Wish You a Long Life.
2	0:02:00	Zulu (isiZulu)	Fred Dube	Siya nibingelela maqhawe sinifisela inkonzo ende.	We greet you, great ones. We wish you longevity
2	0:02:05	Sotho (Sesotho)	Fred Dube	Reani lumelisa marela.	We greet you, O great ones
2	0:02:08	Wu	Yvonne Meinwald	祝㑚大家好。 Tsoh^3 na^13 da^11 ka^53 hoa^34	Best wishes to you all
2	0:02:12	Armenian	Araxy Terzian	Բոլոր անոնց որ կը գտնուին տիեզերգի միգամածութիւնէն անդին, ողջոյններ (Bolor anonts’ vor ky gtnuin tiezergi migamatsut’iwnen andin, voghjoynner)[11]	To all those who exist in the universe, greetings
2	0:02:19	Korean	Soon Hee Shin	안녕하세요 (Annyeong haseyo)	Hello (literally "Are you peaceful?" or "Be peaceful")
2	0:02:22	Polish	Maria Nowakowska-Stycos	Witajcie, istoty z zaświatów.	Welcome, beings from beyond the world.
2	0:02:25	Nepali	Durga Prashad Ojha	प्रिथ्वी वासीहरु बाट शान्ति मय भविष्य को शुभकामना (Prithvī vāsīharu bāṭa śānti maya bhaviṣya kō śubhakāmanā)	Wishing you a peaceful future from the earthlings
2	0:02:29	Mandarin Chinese	Liang Ku	各位都好吧？我们都很想念你们，有空请到这儿来玩。; 各位都好吧？我們都很想念你們，有空請到這兒來玩。; Gèwèi dōu hǎo ba? Wǒmen dōu hěn xiǎngniàn nǐmen, yǒu kòng qǐng dào zhèr lái wán.	How's everyone? We all very much wish to meet you, if you're free please come and visit
2	0:02:35	Ila	Saul Moobola	Mypone kaboutu noose.	We wish all of you well
2	0:02:38	Swedish	Gunnel Almgren Schaar	Hälsningar från en dataprogrammerare i den lilla universitetsstaden Ithaca på planeten Jorden	Greetings from a computer programmer in the small university town of Ithaca on (the) planet Earth
2	0:02:45	Nyanja	Saul Moobola	Mulibwanji imwe boonse bantu bakumwamba.	How are all you people of other planets?
2	0:02:48	Gujarati	Radhekeant Dave	પૃથ્વી ઉપર વસનાર એક માનવ તરફથી બ્રહ્માંડના અન્ય અવકાશમાં વસનારાઓને હાર્દિક અભિનંદન. આ સંદેશો મળ્યે, વળતો સંદેશો મોકલાવશો. (Pr̥thvī upara vasanāra ēka mānava taraphathī brahmāṇḍanā an'ya avakāśamāṁ vasanārā'ōnē hārdika abhinandana. Ā sandēśō maḷyē, vaḷatō sandēśō mōkalāvaśō.)	Greetings from a human being of the Earth. Please contact
2	0:03:03	Ukrainian	Andrew Cehelsky	Пересилаємо привіт із нашого світу, бажаємо щастя, здоров'я і многая літа (Peresylayemo pryvit iz nashoho svitu, bazhayemo shchastya, zdorov'ya i mnohaya lita)	We are sending greetings from our world, wishing you happiness, health and many years
2	0:03:09	Persian	Eshagh Samehyeh	درود بر ساکنین ماورای آسمان‌ها (Dorud bar sâkenin mawrah âsemân-hâ) …	Greetings to the residents of far skies …
2	0:03:22	Serbian	Milan Mihailo Smiljanić	Желимо вам све најлепше са наше планете (Želimo vam sve najlepše sa naše planete)	We wish you all the best, from our planet
2	0:03:25	Oriya	Raghaba Prasada Sahu	ସୂର୍ଯ୍ୟ ତାରକାର ତୃତୀୟ ଗ୍ରହ ପୃଥିବୀରୁ ବିଶ୍ୱବ୍ରହ୍ମାଣ୍ଡର ଅଧିବାସୀ ମାନଙ୍କୁ ଅଭିନନ୍ଦନ (Sūryẏa tārakāra tr̥tīẏa graha pr̥thibīru biśẇabrahmāṇḍara adhibāsī mānaṅku abhinandana.)	Greetings to the inhabitants of the universe from the third planet Earth of the star Sun
2	0:03:34	Ganda (Luganda)	Elijah Mwima-Mudeenya	Musulayo mutya abantu bensi eno mukama abawe emirembe bulijo.	Greetings to all peoples of the universe. God give you peace always
2	0:03:38	Marathi	Arati Pandit	नमस्कार. ह्या पृथ्वीतील लोक तुम्हाला त्यांचे शुभविचार पाठवतात आणि त्यांची इच्छा आहे की तुम्ही ह्या जन्मी धन्य व्हा. (Namaskāra. Hyā pr̥thvītīla lōka tumhālā tyān̄cē śubhavicāra pāṭhavatāta āṇi tyān̄cī icchā āhē kī tumhī hyā janmī dhan'ya vhā.)	Greetings. The people of the Earth send their good wishes and hope you find good fortune in this life.
2	0:03:47	Amoy (Southern Min/Hokkien)	Margaret Sook Ching See Gebauer	太空朋友，恁好！恁食飽未？有閒著來阮遮坐喔。 (Thài-khong pêng-iú, lín-hó. Lín chia̍h-pá--bē? Ū-êng, to̍h lâi gún chia chē--ô͘! )	Friends from space, how are you all? Have you eaten yet? Come visit us if you have time
2	0:03:55	Hungarian (Magyar)	Elizabeth Bilson	Üdvözletet küldünk magyar nyelven minden békét szerető lénynek a Világegyetemen	We are sending greetings in the Hungarian language to all peace-loving beings on the Universe
2	0:04:01	Telugu	Prasad Kodukula	నమస్తే, తెలుగు మాట్లాడే జనముననించి మా శుభాకాంక్షలు. (Namastē, telugu māṭlāḍē janamunanin̄ci mā śubhākāṅkṣalu)	Greetings. Best wishes from Telugu-speaking people
2	0:04:05	Czech	Vaclav Otakar Kostroun	Milí přátelé, přejeme vám vše nejlepší	Dear Friends, we wish you the best
2	0:04:08	Kannada (Kanarese)	Shrinivasa K. Upadhyaya	ನಮಸ್ತೆ, ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರ ಪರವಾಗಿ ಶುಭಾಷಯಗಳು. (Namaste, kannaḍigara paravāgi śubhāṣayagaḷu.)	Greetings. On behalf of Kannada-speaking people, 'good wishes'
2	0:04:12	Rajasthani	Mool C. Gupta		Hello to everyone. We are happy here and you be happy there
2	0:04:18	English	Nick Sagan	Hello from the children of planet Earth
3	0:05:16	Esperanto	Ralph Harry	Ni strebas vivi en paco kun la popoloj de la tuta mondo, de la tuta kosmo.	We strive to live in peace with the peoples of the whole world, of the whole cosmos.
4	0:06:25	!Kung	Richard Borshay Lee

Sounds

The next audio section is devoted to the "sounds of Earth" that include:[12]

"Music of the Spheres" – Johannes Kepler's Harmonices Mundi realized by Laurie Spiegel Volcanoes, Earthquake, Thunder Mud Pots Wind, Rain, Surf Crickets, Frogs Birds, Hyena, Elephant, Whale Chimpanzee Wind Wild Dog Footsteps, Heartbeat, Laughter (Sagan's)[3] The First Tools

Tame Dog Herding Sheep, Blacksmith, Sawing Tractor, Riveter Morse Code, Ships (precisely, a ship's horn) Horse and Cart Train Tractor, Bus, Auto F-111 Flyby, Saturn V Lift-off (Apollo 15) Kiss, Mother and Child Life Signs, Pulsar

Included within the Sounds of Earth audio portion of the Golden Record is a track containing the inspirational message per aspera ad astra in Morse code. Translated from Latin, it means 'through hardships to the stars.'

Music

Following the section on the sounds of Earth, there is an eclectic 90-minute selection of music from many cultures, including Eastern and Western classics. The selections include:[13]

Country	Piece	Composer	Performer(s)	Recorded by / in	Genre of music	Length
Germany	Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047: I. Allegro	Johann Sebastian Bach	Munich Bach Orchestra/Karl Richter (conductor) featuring Karl-Heinz Schneeberger (violin)	Recorded in Munich, Germany, January 1967	Classical music / Baroque music	4:40
Indonesia	Ketawang: Puspåwårnå (Kinds of Flowers)	Mangkunegara IV	Pura Paku Alaman Palace Orchestra/K.R.T. Wasitodipuro (director) featuring Niken Larasati and Nji Tasri (vocals)	Recorded by Robert E. Brown in Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia, on January 10, 1971	Folk music / Gamelan	4:43
Benin	Cengunmé[14]	Traditional	Mahi musicians of Benin	Recorded by Charles Duvelle in Savalou, Benin, West Africa, January 1963	Folk music / Percussion	2:08
Democratic Republic of Congo	Alima Song	Traditional	Mbuti of the Ituri Rainforest	Recorded by Colin Turnbull and Francis S. Chapman in the Ituri Rainforest of the Democratic Republic of Congo, circa 1951	Folk music	0:56
Australia	Barnumbirr (Morning Star) and Moikoi Song	Traditional	Tom Djawa (clapsticks), Mudpo (digeridoo), and Waliparu (vocals)[15]	Recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes at Milingimbi Mission on Milingimbi Island, off the coast of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia, 1962	Folk music / Indigenous music of Australia	1:26
Mexico	El Cascabel (The Bell)	Lorenzo Barcelata	Antonio Maciel and Los Aguilillas with Mariachi México de Pepe Villa/Rafael Carrión (conductor)	Recorded 1957, Musart Records	Mariachi	3:14
US	Johnny B. Goode	Chuck Berry	Chuck Berry (vocals, guitar) with Lafayette Leak (piano), Willie Dixon (bass), and Fred Below (drums)	Recorded at Chess Studios, Chicago, Illinois, on January 6, 1958	Rock and roll	2:03
Papua New Guinea	Mariuamangɨ	Traditional	Pranis Pandang and Kumbui (mariuamangɨ) of the Nyaura Clan	Recorded by Robert MacLennan in the village of Kandɨngei, Middle Sepik, Papua New Guinea, on July 23, 1964	Folk music	1:20
Japan / US	Sokaku-Reibo (Depicting The Cranes In Their Nest)	Arranged by Kinko Kurosawa	Goro Yamaguchi (shakuhachi)	Recorded in New York City, circa 1967, Elektra Entertainment	Folk music /Honkyoku	4:51
Germany / Belgium	Partita for Violin Solo No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: III. Gavotte En Rondeau	Johann Sebastian Bach	Arthur Grumiaux (violin)	Recorded in Berlin, Germany, November 1960, Decca Music Group Limited	Classical music / Baroque music	2:55
Austria / Germany	The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte), K. 620, Act II: Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen (Hell's Vengeance Boils In My Heart)	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Bavarian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus/Wolfgang Sawallisch (conductor) featuring Edda Moser (soprano)	Recorded in Munich, Germany, August 1972	Classical music / Opera / Singspiel	2:55
Georgia	Chakrulo	Traditional	Georgian State Merited Ensemble of Folk Song and Dance/Anzor Kavsadze (director) featuring Ilia Zakaidze (first tenor) and Rostom Saginashvili (second tenor)[16][17]	Recorded at Melodiya Studio in Tbilisi, Georgia	Folk music / Choral music	2:18
Peru	Roncadoras and Drums	Traditional	Musicians from Ancash	From recordings collected by Jose Maria Arguedas (Casa de la Cultura) in the Ancash Region of Peru, 1964	Folk music	0:52
US	Melancholy Blues	Marty Bloom and Walter Melrose	Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven	Recorded in Chicago, Illinois, on May 11, 1927	Jazz	3:05
Azerbaijan S.S.R.	Muğam (Çahargah ahəngi)	Traditional	Kamil Jalilov (balaban)	Recorded by Radio Moscow, circa 1950	Folk music	2:30
Soviet Union / US	The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre Du Printemps), Part II-The Sacrifice: VI. Sacrificial Dance (The Chosen One)	Igor Stravinsky	Columbia Symphony Orchestra/Igor Stravinsky (conductor)	Recorded at the Ballroom of the St. George Hotel, Brooklyn, New York, on January 6, 1960	Modern classical music / Ballet	4:35
Germany / Canada / US	The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 870	Johann Sebastian Bach	Glenn Gould (piano)	Recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio in New York City on August 8, 1966	Classical music / Baroque music	4:48
Germany / UK	Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Opus 67: I. Allegro con brio	Ludwig van Beethoven	Philharmonia Orchestra/Otto Klemperer (conductor)	Recorded at Kingsway Hall, London, on October 6, 1955	Classical music / Romantic music	7:20
Bulgaria	Izlel E Delyo Haydutin	Traditional	Valya Balkanska (vocal), Lazar Kanevski, and Stephan Zahmanov (kaba gaidi)	Recorded by Martin Koenig and Ethel Rain in Smolyan, Bulgaria, 1968	Folk music	4:59
US	Navajo Night Chant, Yeibichai Dance	Traditional	Ambrose Roan Horse, Chester Roan, and Tom Roan	Recorded by Willard Rhodes in Pine Springs, Arizona, Summer 1942	Folk music	0:57
UK	The Fairie Round	Anthony Holborne	Early Music Consort of London/David Munrow (director)	Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, September 1973	Classical music / Renaissance music	1:17
Solomon Islands	Naranaratana Kookokoo (The Cry of the Megapode Bird)	Traditional	Maniasinimae and Taumaetarau Chieftain Tribe of Oloha and Palasu'u Village Community in Small Malaita	Recording of Solomon Islands Broadcasting Services (SIBS)	Folk music	1:12
Peru	Wedding Song	Traditional	Performed by young girl of Huancavelica	Recorded by John and Penny Cohen in Huancavelica, Peru, 1964	Folk music	0:38
China	Liu Shui (Flowing Streams)	Bo Ya	Guan Pinghu (guqin)	Recording of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings	Folk music	7:37
India	Bhairavi: Jaat Kahan Ho	Traditional	Kesarbai Kerkar (vocals) with harmonium, Tanpura and tabla accompaniment	Recorded in Bombay, India, April 1953	Hindustani Shastriya Sangeet (Indian classical music)	3:30
US	Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground	Blind Willie Johnson	Blind Willie Johnson (slide guitar, vocals)	Recorded in Dallas, Texas, on December 3, 1927	Blues	3:15
Germany / Hungary / US	String Quartet No. 13: in B-Flat Major, Opus 130: V. Cavatina	Ludwig van Beethoven	Budapest String Quartet	Recorded at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., on April 7, 1960	Classical music / Romantic music	6:37

It has been claimed that Sagan had originally asked for permission to include "Here Comes the Sun" from the Beatles' album Abbey Road; but while the Beatles favoured it, EMI opposed it and the song was not included.[18] However, this has been refuted by Timothy Ferris, who worked on the selection with Sagan; he said the song was never even considered for inclusion.[14]

Brainwaves

The Golden Record also carried an hour-long recording of the brainwaves of Ann Druyan, who would later marry Carl Sagan. In the epilogue of the 1997 book Billions and Billions, she describes the experience:

Earlier I had asked Carl if those putative extraterrestrials of a billion years from now could conceivably interpret the brain waves of a meditator. Who knows? A billion years is a long, long time, was his reply. On the chance that it might be possible why don't we give it a try? Two days after our life-changing phone call, I entered a laboratory at Bellevue Hospital in New York City and was hooked up to a computer that turned all the data from my brain and heart into sound. I had a one-hour mental itinerary of the information I wished to convey. I began by thinking about the history of Earth and the life it sustains. To the best of my abilities I tried to think something of the history of ideas and human social organization. I thought about the predicament that our civilization finds itself in and about the violence and poverty that make this planet a hell for so many of its inhabitants. Toward the end I permitted myself a personal statement of what it was like to fall in love.[19]

On February 12, 2010, an interview with Ann Druyan was aired on NPR during which the above was explained in more detail.[20]

Images

Along with the audio, the record contains a collection of 116 pictures (one of which is for calibration) detailing but not limited to human life on Earth and the planet itself. Many pictures are annotated with one or many indications of scales of time, size or mass. Some images also contain indications of chemical composition. All measures used on the pictures are first defined in the first few images using physical references.

Following is a list of all the images contained in the Voyager Golden Record together with a description of the nature of the image and what annotations were included in them, and when copyright permits, the actual image.[21]

After NASA had received criticism over the nudity on the Pioneer plaque (line drawings of a naked man and woman), the agency chose not to allow Sagan and his colleagues to include a photograph of a nude man and woman on the record. Instead, only a silhouette of the couple was included.[22]

An official statement by President Jimmy Carter was included as an image. It reads, in part:

This Voyager spacecraft was constructed by the United States of America. We are a community of 240 million human beings among the more than 4 billion who inhabit the planet Earth. We human beings are still divided into nation states, but these states are rapidly becoming a global civilization. We cast this message into the cosmos ... It is likely to survive a billion years into our future, when our civilization is profoundly altered and the surface of the Earth may be vastly changed. Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, some – perhaps many – may have inhabited planets and space faring civilizations. If one such civilization intercepts Voyager and can understand these recorded contents, here is our message: This is a present from a small distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts, and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope some day, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination and our goodwill in a vast and awesome universe.[23][24]

Position	Thumbnail	Description	Type	Annotations
1		Calibration circle	Black-and-white diagram
2		Solar location map	Black-and-white diagram
3		Mathematical definitions	Black-and-white text
4		Physical unit definitions	Black-and-white text
5		Solar System parameters	Black-and-white text
6		Solar System parameters	Black-and-white text
7		The Sun	Black-and-white image
8		Solar spectrum	Color image
9		Mercury	Black-and-white image
10		Mars	Black-and-white image	Size
11		Jupiter	Color image	Size
12		Earth	Color image	Size
13		Egypt, Red Sea, Sinai Peninsula, and the Nile	Color image	Chemical composition
14		Chemical definitions	Black-and-white diagram	Size
15		DNA Structure	Color diagram	Size
16		DNA Structure magnified, light hit	Color diagram	Size
17		Cells and cell division	Black-and-white image	Size
18		Anatomy 1 (Skeleton front)	Color diagram
19		Anatomy 2 (Skeleton and muscles back)	Color diagram
20		Anatomy 3 (Heart, lungs, kidneys and main blood vessels back)	Color diagram
21		Anatomy 4 (Heart, lungs, kidneys and main blood vessels front)	Color diagram
22		Anatomy 5 (Internal organs back)	Color diagram
23		Anatomy 6 (Internal organs front)	Color diagram
24		Anatomy 7 (Ribcage)	Color diagram
25		Anatomy 8 (Muscles front)	Color diagram	Size
26		Human sex organs	Black-and-white diagram	Size
27		Diagram of conception	Black-and-white diagram	Size, time
28		Conception	Color image
29		Fertilized ovum	Black-and-white image	Time
30		Fetus diagram	Black-and-white diagram	Size, time
31		Fetus	Color image
32		Diagram of male and female	Black-and-white diagram	Size, time
33		Birth	Black-and-white image
34		Nursing mother	Color image
35		Father and daughter (Malaysia)	Color image
36		Group of children	Color image
37		Diagram of family ages	Black-and-white diagram	Mass, time
38		Family portrait	Black-and-white image
39		Diagram of continental drift	Black-and-white diagram	Time
40		Structure of the Earth	Black-and-white diagram	Size, chemical composition
41		Heron Island (Great Barrier Reef of Australia)	Color image
42		Snake River and Grand Tetons	Black-and-white image
43		Seashore	Color image
44		Sand dunes	Color image
45		Monument Valley	Color image
46		Forest scene with mushrooms	Color image
47		Leaf	Color image	Size
48		Autumn Fallen leaves	Color image
49		Snowflakes over Sequoia	Color image
50		Tree with daffodils	Color image	Size
51		Flying insect with flowers	Color image	Size, mass
52		Diagram of vertebrate evolution	Black-and-white diagram
53		Seashell (Xancidae)	Color image
54		Dolphins	Color image
55		School of fish	Color image
56		Tree toad	Color image
57		Crocodile	Color image
58		Eagle	Color image	Size
59		Waterhole	Color image
60		Jane Goodall and chimps	Color image
61		Sketch of bushmen	Black-and-white diagram	Size
62		Bushmen hunters	Black-and-white image
63		Man from Guatemala	Color image
64		Dancer from Bali	Color image
65		Andean girls	Color image
66		Thailand master craftsman	Color image
67		Elephant	Color image
68		Old man with beard and glasses (Turkey)	Color image
69		Leo Kenton Coleman with dog and flowers	Color image
70		Mountain climber	Color image
71		Gymnast	Color image	Time
72		Sprinters (Valeriy Borzov of the U.S.S.R. in lead)	Color image
73		Schoolroom	Color image
74		Children with globe	Color image
75		Cotton harvest	Color image	Size
76		Grape picker	Color image
77		Supermarket	Color image
78		Underwater scene with diver and fish	Color image	Chemical composition
79		Fishing boat with nets	Color image
80		Cooking fish	Color image
81		Chinese dinner party	Color image
82		Demonstration of licking, eating and drinking	Color image
83		Great Wall of China	Color image
84		House construction (African)	Color image
85		Construction scene (Amish country)	Color image
86		House (Africa)	Color image
87		House (New England)	Color image
88		Modern house (Cloudcroft, New Mexico)	Color image
89		"House interior with artist and fire" (Photo by Jim Amos of Jim Gray & his wife)[25][26]	Color image
90		Taj Mahal	Color image
91		English city (Oxford)	Color image
92		Boston	Color image
93		UN Building Day	Color image
94		UN Building Night	Color image
95		Sydney Opera House	Color image	Size
96		Artisan with drill	Black-and-white image
97		Factory interior	Color image
98		Museum	Color image
99		X-ray of hand	Color image
100		Woman with microscope	Color image
101		Street scene, Asia (Pakistan)	Color image
102		Rush hour traffic, Thailand	Color image
103		Modern highway (Ithaca, NY)	Color image
104		Golden Gate Bridge	Black-and-white image	Size
105		Train	Color image	Size
106		Airplane in flight	Color image
107		Airport (Toronto)	Black-and-white image
108		Antarctic Expedition	Color image
109		Radio telescope (Westerbork, Netherlands)	Black-and-white image
110		Radio telescope (Arecibo)	Color image	Size
111		Page of book (Newton, On the System of the World)	Color image
112		Astronaut in space	Color image
113		Titan Centaur launch	Color image
114		Sunset with birds	Color image
115		String Quartet (Quartetto Italiano)	Color image
116		Violin with music score (Cavatina)	Color image

See also

• Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence

Notes and references

Notes

1. Somewhat loose translation; per NASA.

References

1. Sagan, Carl (1994). Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1st ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 9780679438410.
2. "Traveller's Tales [Carl Sagan Tribute Series, S01E16]". Retrieved February 10, 2012.
3. Lafrance, Adrienne (30 June 2017). "Solving the Mystery of Whose Laughter Is On the Golden Record". The Atlantic. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
4. "Greetings to the Universe in 55 Different Languages". NASA. Retrieved September 6, 2006.
5. Wiener-Bronner, Danielle (2015-08-06). "The Story Behind 'Greetings to the Universe,' the 55 Recordings of 'hello' Sent Into Space". Fusion. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
6. Gambino, Megan (April 23, 2012). "What Is on Voyager's Golden Record?". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
7. "Voyager: Greetings in 55 languages". Retrieved March 14, 2011.
8. "The Voyager Interstellar Record – 3/31 UN Greetings Whale Greetings". Retrieved February 10, 2012.
9. Sagan, Carl (1978). Murmurs of Earth: The Voyager Interstellar Record. ISBN 0345315367.
11. Sternberg, Janet (29 Apr 2013). "[Armenian Voyager Golden Record greetings by Araxy Terzian]". Twitter. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
12. "Voyager – Spacecraft – Golden Record – Sounds of Earth". NASA. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
13. ozmarecords. "Voyager". ozmarecords. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
14. Ferris, Timothy (2017-08-20). "How the Voyager Golden Record Was Made". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
15. "The Voyager Golden Record: Audio Tracklist". ozmarecords. Ozma Records. Retrieved 2017-08-09.
16. Linich, Carl (19 March 2008). "Ilia Zakaidze". Georgian Folk Singing. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
17. "Voyager 1977 - Georgian folk song "Chakrulo" in space - "ჩაკრულო" კოსმოსში". Youtube (interview with Anzor Erkomaishvili and others) (in Georgian). Retrieved 9 October 2013.
18. Sagan, Carl et al. (1978) Murmurs of Earth: The Voyager Interstellar Record. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-41047-5 (hardcover), ISBN 0-345-28396-1 (paperback)
19. Sagan, Carl (1997). Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium. Random House. ISBN 0-679-41160-7.
20. Abumrad, Jad; Krulwich, Robert (February 12, 2010). "Carl Sagan And Ann Druyan's Ultimate Mix Tape". NPR. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
21. "Greetings to the Universe in 55 Different Languages". NASA. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
22. Jon Lomberg: "Pictures of Earth". in Carl Sagan: Murmurs of Earth, 1978, New York, ISBN 0-679-74444-4
23. "Howdy, Strangers". NASA. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
24. "Voyager Spacecraft Statement by the President". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
25. "Great Smokies National Park: Solitude for Millions". National Geographic Society.
26. "House interior with artist and fire". NASA.

External links

• Official NASA JPL page about the Golden Record
• Multimedia showcase with the contents of the Golden Record
• The Infinite Voyager : The Golden Record - built by Lily Bui from MIT
• Voyager 1 Audio on Internet Archive
• Official Nasa Soundcloud page with sounds from Golden Record
• Multimedia presentation of the images and audio of the Golden Records