Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Europa Clipper Plate Carries A Special Message
NASA sends a new mission from one ocean world to another - the Europa Clipper spacecraft - and continues a tradition that started with the Pioneer Plaque and the Voyager's Golden Record. And an even longer tradition in science fiction!
(NASA's Europa Clipper vault plate in 3D)
Water connects our planet Earth with Jupiter's moon Europa. The Europa Clipper mission aims to confirm that a vast ocean exists beneath Europa's icy surface, making it a promising place to study habitability for life beyond Earth. This shared element of water inspired the Europa Clipper team to engrave designs that celebrate human connections and our collective spirit of exploration on a triangular metal plate. The plate, made of tantalum metal about 1 millimeter thick and about 7 by 11 inches (18 by 28 centimeters), is part of the structure that will protect Europa Clipper’s electronics from Jupiter’s harmful radiation.Water connects all life as we know it, and all human cultures. The outward-facing side of the vault plate features "Water Words" — a visual representation of the word for water in 103 spoken languages, extending from a central symbol that represents the sign for water in American Sign Language. Professional linguists helped to collect a diverse and inclusive sampling of human language families from across the globe. Audio recordings of these words are engraved on the vault plate as waveforms – visual representations of each sound.
(NASA's Europa Clipper vault plate in 3D)
This is an early precursor to the Pioneer plaques:
The Pioneer plaques are a pair of gold-anodized aluminum plaques that were placed on board the 1972 Pioneer 10 and 1973 Pioneer 11 spacecraft, featuring a pictorial message, in case either Pioneer 10 or 11 is intercepted by intelligent extraterrestrial life. The plaques show the nude figures of a human male and female along with several symbols that are designed to provide information about the origin of the spacecraft.
(The Pioneer plaque)Science fiction fans may recall the metal message in space from The Menace From Space, by John Edwards, published by Wonder Stories in 1934:
“Seems to have been rolled up some time, to judge from the spring in it," observed Haskell. Morrison nodded. “That is not surprising, if it comes from the place I surmise.” Bradbury, who had temporarily forgotten even his beloved red moss in this new development, looked at him inquiringly, but Morrison was concentrating upon the sheet of inscriptions. This was about eight inches wide, and had unrolled to a length of two feet or so. Near the left-hand edge as they looked at it was inscribed a disc which, from the multitude of rays emanating from it, might be taken to represent the sun. Very close to this was a tiny circle, while three slightly larger discs were shown at varying distances of a few inches. Extending across the full width of the right-hand end of the sheet, rvas a series of curved scratches upon which was super-imposed a vertical arrangement of strange letters. A similar series of vertical characters in several columns, and of smaller size, occupied the top left corner.
(The alien chart from 'The Menace From Space' by John Edwards)Similar printing, if such it was, labeled each small disc.
Over all, on the left, right, top, and bottom of this strange “chart" were four great symbols which could be taken for nothing else but a variation of arrow-heads, indicating direction.
There was a dead silence for several minutes in the library, while each man formed his own conclusions about the queer chart before them. Then Morrison heaved a great sigh as he stood back from the table.
“There,” he said impressively, “you have a universal cryptogram — yet it is one which can be interpreted by any intelligent creature on any planet in the Solar System! The printing we cannot interpret straight away — but that matters little. The sketch is self-explanatory; that is, to anyone endowed with average intelligence.”
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/16/2024)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Spacecraft ")
Europa Clipper Plate Carries A Special Message
'...a universal cryptogram — yet it is one which can be interpreted by any intelligent creature on any planet in the Solar System!' -China Wants To Build Mega Space Ships
'Don't do anything to endanger our shipping privileges...' - Frank Herbert, 1965.Dream Of Building Your Own Rocket?
Fiorello Bodoni, you inspire all of us.Used Dragon Cargo Spacecraft Will Fly Again
'the overstrained meters made the smaller craft skittish as a young horse...' - Robert Heinlein
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Quaise Uses Beams Of Energy To Dig Geothermal Wells
'The peculiar quality of this light, which gave it its great preeminence over all other penetrating rays...'
Robots Repair And Modify Themselves
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...'
Waymo And Tesla 'Autonomous Cabs' Are Piloted By Remote Drivers
‘Where to, sport?’ the starter at cab relay asked.
Robot Janitors Get To Work
'A few mechanical cleaning devices crept here and there...'
Robots Learn To Install Charged Batteries Into Themselves
This is nothing new for science fiction fans!
Robot Rabbits Entice Pythons
'That little robot rabbit knew what it was talking about...'
LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?
'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.'
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
When Your Child's Best Friend Is An AI
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
Australian Authors Reject AI Training Of Llama
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
Maybe It's Too Soon To Require Autonomous Mode
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
