Pioneer plaque: the first physical message to other civilisations
Placa de las Pioneer: primer mensaje físico a otras civilizaciones
- Date
- 1972 · confidence high
- Place
- Ithaca, New York, United States
- Credited to
- Carl Sagan, Frank Drake and Linda Salzman Sagan
- Field
- Communication
What it is
A 23 by 15 cm anodised aluminium plaque engraved with a man and a woman, the Sun's position relative to 14 pulsars and the solar system. It travels aboard Pioneer 10 and 11 as a symbolic message to a possible civilisation.
The human figure was criticised for its nudity. The place is approximate: the design originated between Cornell University and NASA Ames, and the plaque was engraved in California.
What it led to
- the Voyager Golden Record (1977)
- scientific and social debate over what to tell an extraterrestrial intelligence
- the Arecibo message (1974) as a radio transmission