There's a link to a video below - it's interesting and what got me started on this topic but not essential for the discussion.
Well, the good news is we're expecting the Sun to be the same color in 40,000 years and Johnny B Goode will still be around - even if only in other solar systems. I remember reading about the Voyager program in the Smithsonian and Omni (I think - pretty sure). I don't remember anything other than 'team of experts' being mentioned for the group that selected material for and encoded the record that was to be sent with the probes.
Turns out, they were all friends and colleagues of Carl Sagan.
It's fifty years too late to worry about it - can't exactly fix it now! But that's a pretty poor way to select a team for something that's supposed to represent us all. Yeah, they were short on time - but not that short.
It bugs me because I was a kid when this was happening and it is another bite of cynicism into my childhood. I think it should be a cautionary lesson - a little cronyism now can cost you a lot of respect - or worse - later. And yeah, makes me wonder even more about Science! the profit* from on high (horse)! I really respected Sagan - and LOVED Cosmos!
The Celestial Message in a Bottle
*Not a spelling error.
Well, the good news is we're expecting the Sun to be the same color in 40,000 years and Johnny B Goode will still be around - even if only in other solar systems. I remember reading about the Voyager program in the Smithsonian and Omni (I think - pretty sure). I don't remember anything other than 'team of experts' being mentioned for the group that selected material for and encoded the record that was to be sent with the probes.
Turns out, they were all friends and colleagues of Carl Sagan.
It's fifty years too late to worry about it - can't exactly fix it now! But that's a pretty poor way to select a team for something that's supposed to represent us all. Yeah, they were short on time - but not that short.
It bugs me because I was a kid when this was happening and it is another bite of cynicism into my childhood. I think it should be a cautionary lesson - a little cronyism now can cost you a lot of respect - or worse - later. And yeah, makes me wonder even more about Science! the profit* from on high (horse)! I really respected Sagan - and LOVED Cosmos!
The Celestial Message in a Bottle
*Not a spelling error.
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