Science fiction has a plethora of ideas about what happened in the past and what to expect from the future. Unfortunately, not all of those ideas are exactly plausible in reality. In Suspension of Disbelief, we’ll take a look at the best ideas from sci-fi movies, books, comics and videogames to see where (and if) they intersect with the real world.
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NASA launched Pioneer 10 and 11 knowing that the probes would eventually leave the Solar System and travel to distant stars. As a rather last minute addition, the two probes were equipped with small plaques that showed what humans look like and where we lived in the galactic neighborhood, just in case the spacecrafts were ever found by any advanced extraterrestrials. Because of their limited size though, the plaques could only include incredibly basic information.
The next time NASA launched probes destined for other stars, with Voyager 1 and 2 in 1977, they decided to expand upon the Pioneer plaques. The Voyagers were each equipped with a golden phonograph record that would tell the story of humanity to any extraterrestrial species that might chance upon them. Curated by a committee headed by astrophysicist Carl Sagan, the Golden Records contain greetings from over 50 languages, both natural and artificial sounds from Earth, a selection of music from 27 countries including Bach, Beethoven, and Chuck Berry, and the encoded information of 116 images that allow glimpses into what life is like on Earth.
Ostensibly, the Voyager records are intended for some sort of extraterrestrial life, but as Sagan described it, it’s like throwing a message in a bottle into the cosmic ocean. In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, an alien race stumbles upon a Voyager probe, but the actual chances of that are slim to none. Instead, the records act more as a self-portrait of humanity, a way for us to view ourselves. Sagan’s committee deliberately left out any images of war, poverty, nationalism, ideology, and religion, in order to show a human race that is diverse and harmonious.
Click through the gallery to see a sample of the images Sagan and company picked to represent the human race in the minute chance that they were ever discovered by an alien intelligence.
Based in New York City, Cameron Wade is a freelance writer interested in movies, videogames, comic books and more. You can find more of his thoughts and ramblings at protogeektheblog.wordpress.com.
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Mathematical Notation
This is one of the first images on the record. It establishes a system of numbers, first using binary and then converting those to our Arabic numerals. Subsequent images explain our systems for measuring mass, distance, and time using these mathematics as a foundation.
Image via Frank Drake, NASA
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Galaxy Map
The diagram on the left is almost an exact copy of the one that was engraved onto the Pioneer plaque. It shows where our solar system is within the Milky Way galaxy relative to its center, as well as our location relative to 14 notable pulsars. Though not every pulsar would be visible from an alien's point-of-view, NASA included more than enough so that Earth could be located no matter what.
Image via Frank Drake, NASA
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Earth
This is one of three images on the record that show the Earth from space and the first in sequential order. It shows North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula in clear view with most of Europe, southern Africa, and Asia covered by clouds or darkness.
Image via NASA
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Tectonic Plates
These three maps shows the history of Earth's tectonic movements. The hand next to the middle panel indicates that time period as the one in which humans currently inhabit. Also, like many of the images on the Golden Record, this diagram demonstrates to extraterrestrials our scientific knowledge, in this case, how much we have discovered about the Earth's geological past.
Image via Jon Lomberg, NASA
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Evolution
This image is meant to show the different classes of vertebrates and their evolution. The human figures are mostly based on the Pioneer plaque with the notable difference being that the woman is waving instead of the man. When Pioneer launched, some criticized its plaque for only showing the man waving.
Image via Jon Lomberg, NASA
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Pregnancy
This diagram, along with a few others that depict the moment of conception and zygotic cell divisions, shows how humans reproduce and gestate. Originally, Sagan wanted to include a full-color photograph of the couple, along with this silhouetted version, but NASA rejected it because of the nudity. The Pioneer plaque had already faced scrutiny for the detail in its nude figures and NASA didn't want to risk drawing such criticism again.
Image via Jon Lomberg, NASA
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Licking, Eating, and Drinking
Sagan and the committee didn't want to make any assumptions about the aliens that would view the record, so even seemingly obvious actions were demonstrated clearly. What might be obvious to us, like how to eat, may be a mystery to a creature without similar biology and anatomy. This photograph shows how humans use their mouths in order to consume food and drinks. Note that the sandwich already has a bite out of it to help demonstrate that the man is ingesting the food.
Image via National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, NASA
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Hand X-Ray
This picture gives the viewer an inside look at human bone structure and it shows off our advancements in medical technology. The woman in the picture was added to ensure that the viewer would connect the white X-ray with the human anatomy.
Image via National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, NASA
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Isaac Newton's System of the World
System of the World was Newton's application of his gravitational theories to planetary bodies. In it, he described how gravity affects the orbits of planets, moons, and comets, and affirmed his belief in a heliocentric solar system. This picture serves to honor the work of the man who made spaceflight a possibility, to demonstrate more of our understanding of gravity and orbits, and to show how we store information by placing notations on stacked pieces of paper.
Image via National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, NASA
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UN Building
Though Sagan didn't want to include any images of specific national landmarks, these pictures of the UN building function as a symbol of human unity. The two pictures, which come back-to-back on the record, also demonstrate the difference between day and night on Earth and how our structures change visually.
Images via UN/DPI, NASA