Bach FAQ 105

Is a Golden Record with Music of Bach in Spaceship Voyager 1 + Voyager 2 on It's Way Through Outer Space?..

To the point: yes..

One of the twins, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2: with the Golden Record. Bach and a “Hello” are traveling through space. And in between, everything is illustrated quite differently. Why is that? Read about it three pictures further on. To see what Voyager 1 and 2 actually look like, click here. © Peter Bach, Jr..

Space Ship Voyager or Space Probe Voyager? Facts About the "Interstellar Mindful Double Lotti"..

They are no real spaceships at all. Space probes sounds better. And space probes are especially correct. Spaceships that would be simply ... wrong. But because it's all here related to the hoped-for contact with aliens, that is, with extraterrestrials, for instance, E.T. and buddies, we simply leave spaceship once. In 1977, both space probes were shot into the universe at intervals of 16 days. From Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA. And on a Titan-IIIE-Centaur Rocket. Clear and logical: not both on the same trajectory. You actually want to know what the "Double Lotti" is? Click here..

This is it, the rocket that Bach, along with other musicians, launched into the vastness of space aboard Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. So to speak: the Golden Record ... on its way to E.T. and Co. The two probes were launched into space aboard a Titan IIIE-Centaur Rocket. Learn more about this type of rocket here. © Peter Bach, Jr..

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Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, the Golden Record and an Extraordinary Success..

NASA today considers the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 missions to be among its greatest successes. This is because both probes have already far exceeded their expected lifespans. And both continue to regularly transmit data from space to Earth even today. At the same time, they are the human-made objects that have traveled the farthest from Earth and continue to do so. And they will remain so. A Golden Record inside, featuring Bach. And more..

Ta-da, the Golden Record ... made of copper, featuring Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and many other musicians. Clear, and then coated in gold; my illustration matches the other designs in this FAQ. What did the “real” one look like? Click here for the answer. © Peter Bach, Jr..

Mission Voyager 1 + 2 – Music for Aliens: Just from Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven?..

First, Voyager  1 + 2 were named ... Mariner 11 and Mariner 12. The considerations for building Voyager already began in the middle of the 1960s. Both probes had no particular focus on research. They wanted to explore Jupiter and Saturn "just a little more". The basic values of these planets and the moons and the rings around them. Plus the magnetic fields, and in particular they were more interested in the two moons Io and Titan. The next destination for Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 on their journey then were Uranus as well as Neptune and later finally the outermost regions of our solar system. And beyond..

The diameter of Voyager 1 and, of course, that of Voyager 2 is 1.80 meters (... 5 feet, 11 inches ... that's why it is not a spaceship, too) and the space probes weighed some 800 kilograms (... 1,764 pounds) each. And they do so today. With the expanded parabolic antenna the size doubles to a proud 3.60 meters..

Voyager Golden Record: A Kind Hello in 55 Languages from Our World to Theirs. What Else? Heavenly Music ... of Course..

It’s made of copper, our Golden Record … dedicated to the friendly Martians. That’s what they were called back when we still thought Mars might actually be inhabited. However, to ensure that the record could go down in history as the Golden Record it was coated in gold to protect it from rust. On the front is a map and, of course, instructions for use, a sort of “Google Maps for E.T.”. So that E.T. can find us, and we can meet one day..

And what if they hate Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart? Also, what if they’ve been searching for new food for a long time? After all, they might be capable of more than just building amazing pyramids. Which alien do you think will receive the first Gold Record? And now the answer to the question above. Initially, this chapter was “sprinkled” with aliens provided by Wikipedia from the Star Wars series. Much later, during a relaunch of my entire website, I noticed while checking the copyright notices that an objection had apparently been filed by the rights holders: The characters have since been removed from the Wikipedia article. Which amounts to a publication ban. But since AI exists now, I had E.T. & Co. “drawn” ... with the help of software. And since that worked out so well, I continued it for the entire page. I also had Voyager, the rocket launch, and the Golden Record redrawn for myself. Time required for each piece, including post-processing, on this page: a breathtaking 30 minutes. © Peter Bach, Jr..

Whatever Language the Aliens Are Speaking: Almost Everything Is "Covered" ... That Is Simply Cosmically Cool..

Let’s leave aside for now whether it really makes interstellar sense to want to be found by other intelligent beings. In that case, it would certainly be quite practical if we were at roughly the same technological and scientific level. That is, if “another Earth” had developed there at about the same time, some tens of billions of years ago. Dinosaurs went extinct there, too. Intelligence has also evolved. And in the last 1,000 years, quite dramatically. Just like here. And they would now finally be able to search for us, that is, for our Earth. But these aliens might still be about 20 years ahead of us after all. Let’s imagine: These beings eventually become aware of Voyager 1 or Voyager 2..

From there, they start their journey through space toward our Earth. At that time, they fly back and forth –let’s call the planet K-Pax – between their “home planet” and its “terraformed moon”. They take pride in having transformed the bare, cold, inhospitable stone desert (... the aforementioned moon) into a lovely new planet. A planet to which they can relocate if they must flee their collapsing home planet. A planet where – just like with us humans – it has not even been possible, on a global scale, to keep CO₂ emissions at the previous year’s level*. Worldwide, or rather K-Pax-wide, of course..

* At this point, we ignore the fact that a year there may be a multiple of our earth year ... but this is getting sort of too absurd now..

So “our” aliens are now catching one of our probes. And now? Now we’re really covering the highest probabilities of what might be needed out there ... using the many, many languages of us Earthlings. Naturally, native speakers – that is, people who speak their own language, not a learned one – welcome E.T. in space. On the Golden Record. So, it doesn’t matter at all whether these beings speak English or Greek, Cantonese or Akkadian, Russian or Thai, Arabic or Burmese. Or simply a few more languages..

To all the optimists out there: Let’s not forget! This could also go horribly wrong. That is, if he – the nice guy up there – ends up "snagging" one of those Golden Records: Darth Cousin. That would be ... much worse than just an intergalactic oops. © Peter Bach, Jr..

The Golden Record in the Depths of the Universe: At Least One of 55 Languages ​​Should Extraterrestrials Know!..

It’s also interesting to think about what we’re “putting out there” if a 300-year-old, lizard-like, grunting, five-meter-tall creature – traveling through space in search for raw materials – were to decipher our message. At the very least, it’s not as boring as deciphering hieroglyphs in an ancient pyramid: Because once you’ve quickly decoded that, all that’s left is to transfer a massive amount of papyrus into one ( ! ) language of the original challenge. No, we’re making this way more exciting than the ancient Egyptians. Because if our message is found in space – that is, on the Golden Record – then the (…maybe) little alien will have to decipher a whopping 55 different languages. But at least he could start with a script that he could then continue working with. The Chinese, Arabic, and Cartesian characters could then surely be decoded with even greater fun and excitement. If the first deciphered messages were a real blast..

Voyager: captured. Golden Record: found. 55 messages decoded and off with a delegation to our Earth. We invited them, and we’re inviting them. And when they do arrive, we’ll probably be collectively overwhelmed: E.T. ... isn’t what’s shown in the picture up there at all. Because E.T. was lovable, looked absolutely adorable, and will most certainly never, ever come back ... to us. He’s still suffering today from his experiences with us humans. © Peter Bach, Jr..

Music, and Greetings to Go with It. Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven Aren't Enough ... Music Alone Is Simply Not Universal Enough!..

So if “Yoda and Co.” manage to work their way through all the individual greetings, they will certainly be very impressed by our extraordinary warmth. The fact that, besides “being nice,” we’re also capable of something quite different—namely, slaughtering each other in 20 wars and killing one another in around 45 highly violent conflicts this year alone – not to mention the smaller conflicts, about 350 of them, which we’ll just leave out for now – is something we’d be better off not mentioning at all for the time being. After all, no one would start looking for a divorce lawyer right in the middle of their wedding celebration. Maybe, on an intergalactic scale, everything – really everything – is going just fine..

"Differently grammar speak he does, yes!" We would not have had to pay so much attention to our greetings: Yoda, he is simply just a cool-headed guy. © Peter Bach, Jr..

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So What Kind of Catchphrases Are We Coming up with Now? On Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 ... Because We're Not All Only Into Music..

In Sumerian, the Golden Record says: “May everyone be healthy.” That’s intergalactically wonderful, and I think it’s something everyone can relate to very well, everywhere and in every solar system. The phrase “... we come in friendship” is also nice, once you’ve deciphered it. And “peace and happiness to you all” is also a wonderful gesture..

“Hello, how are you?” sounds like a quintessentially American greeting. But that’s not where it comes from: It’s very polite, but it’s what happens when a Jedi masters Cantonese on the Golden Record. The text in Russian is great: “I welcome you.” I’ll say that next time I visit our friends, too. “We’d love to meet you sometime...” is what you can read once you’ve quickly mastered Arabic. Although we don’t even know if we might end up being considered food after all..

“Good afternoon, everyone.” ... Now that’s a warm hello. Almost as if we were already friends. You can’t quite trust Wikipedia, though, when it comes to that brilliant saying that ... no, I’m not going to say who said it ... “Good night, ladies and gentlemen. Farewell and goodbye, until next time.”..

In Punjabi, we’re looking forward to welcoming the aliens again, even though we’re the ones visiting them. And in Latin, we casually make the statement: “We bring peace to the stars.” We. Of all people, us. We can’t even manage to get along peacefully with our neighbors. “Warm regards to all,” on the other hand, is a super-clever expression from the German global community. Cleverly phrased, we don’t care how many little green men there are. Trillions, quadrillions, quintillions, or just 500 ... “all” is simply “all.” Very, really very diplomatic. But a little further on, it gets even more exciting and also more amusing..

Do we really want to get to know them? Wouldn't it be better to develop for a few thousand more years? But you can already guess: Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and Co. will inspire and fascinate him (... up there). © Peter Bach, Jr..

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The Golden Record in Voyager 1 + 2 ... We Do Not just Want to Say Hello to Alien Intelligence, We Want to Excite Them..

The Vietnamese take it more seriously. That’s why their friendly greetings are immediately described as “sincere.” The Turks have decided to explicitly greet only Turkish-speaking Martians (... dear Turkish-speaking friends ...), and even among them, one must have an IQ of at least 103 to understand the message. The Italians send “congratulations,” and in Zulu we wish distant intelligences a long life, even though that might be exactly what they might no longer want. Because living for 1,200 years can get boring after a while..

Somewhere in Africa, “Sotho” is spoken, and there they’ve already decided whether to look up at their counterpart in space or down on them from above: They “... greet you, o larger ones.” In Mandarin Chinese, we are polite and diplomatic, because “... we hope everyone is doing well. And we are thinking of everyone.” To that end, we even ask Chewbacca, one of the heroes of Star Wars, to “come here and visit us.” However – a little politeness is a must – “... only if you have time.”..

In “Amoy,” we’re already friends and we’re actually really curious to know, “... whether they’ve all eaten yet.” We also ask them to “... drop by for a bit,” only if they have time (... just minor changes to the text. Author’s note). The Hungarians also send greetings only to “Frogs” who speak Hungarian, and so do the 1.4 percent who speak Telugu. We fool our relatives in space in English by making them believe that only the children were looking forward to their visit. Not a word of greeting from our adults either: “Hello from the children of Planet Earth.”..

And with all these warm greetings, creatures who may be 100,000 years ahead of us in terms of intelligence, technology, and communication can still get a pretty good picture of who we are. No, and still not entirely serious: That’s exactly why the greetings are accompanied by music and other clever stuff..

Well ... now the question of whether they've already had dinner does make sense. However, there's no way we're getting those probes back now. Nor the Golden Records on Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. © Peter Bach, Jr..

A little warning for all the kids out there: You might want to think twice before handing in an essay, a homework assignment, or a presentation on the Golden Records and Voyager 1 and 2, based on my information. Not everyone should go around goofing off without a care in the world. Especially not when you’re graded on everything. But: Now you are definitely up to date on the Golden Record aboard Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 on their journey into space..

To the 100 most important Bach FAQs.

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