A Brief-ish History of SETI. Part V: The First Interstellar Messengers

The Voyager Golden Record, including the "Sounds of Earth" record (right) and the cover with instructions on how to play it (left). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

During the 1970s, the first interstellar probes were launched, carrying messages specifically designed to be intelligible to extraterrestrial species. The messages were essentially a "message in a bottle" intended for an advanced civilization, should they find the probes someday.

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