In 1977, two spacecrafts1 named VoyagerⅠandⅡ were launched toward Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune2. After collecting and sending back to us precious information about those giant planets, they left the Solar System in 1989. No one knows how long their wanderings will last. According to scientists, the Voyagers may approach the nearest star on their path in forty thousand years or so; in another four hundred thousand years, one of the Voyagers may pass near a second star. In either case the ships will be at a distance of one or two light years from the star. There won't be any crash3.
There are countless stars in the universe4. It is believed that some of them are, like our sun, circled by a number of planets and that some planets may carry intelligent beings5, perhaps more advanced than we are. It is therefore possible that, in a million years or so, some creatures, flying through space in their own ships, will find one of the Voyagers. The stars are so far apart that the chances of such a meeting are very small, but it is not totally impossible. The scientists who prepared the spacecrafts for their journey decided to put a message on each of them. “We may never have another opportunity,” they explained, “to communicate with our distant neighbors—to let someone know, sometime, somewhere, that our blue planet was once the home of fairly intelligent people, more or less civilized6.”
The first difficulty was to decide what form the message should take. How can you communicate with beings that you can't even imagine? Since the laws of physics are believed to be the same throughout the universe, all beings must perceive7 light and sound in some way, even if they don't have eyes and ears like ours. After considering the problem carfully, the scientists concluded that the best way to deliver the message was to put it on a special record8 capable of reproducing images and sounds, packed9 with a needle and a drawing showing how the equipment should be used.
A small committee of scientists, writers, artists and musicians was given the task of preparing the message itself. The members of the committee agreed on the main points. They all said that it was essential to indicate the location of Earth in the universe, to show what it looked like, and to give an idea of the richness and variety10 of its cultures.
The message lasts two hours. It starts with 116 pictures without sound, beginning with a drawing of the solar system and photos of Earth taken from space. Life is described first with representations11 of a man, a woman, a mother feeding a baby, a group of older children, and a family. To show that Earthlings12 live in societies, there are also pictures of people eating, working, cooking, and playing together. Then come all sorts of people: dancers, fishermen, members of different races and cultures. There are trees, beaches and islands, leaves and snow, an active volcano13, even an earthquake. There are animals, from the bee to the elephant. Human achievements are represented by some of our most impressive buildings and bridges, along with ordinary houses from various parts of the world. Pictures of tools and machines have been included, medical and scientific instruments, a supermarket, a busy airport, and the launching of a spaceship. And a flock of birds flying across a gorgeous14 sunset.
After this silent representation of our world, the record provides the Earth's sounds. This section of the message begins with brief speeches in fifty-five languages (including languages that have not been used in thousands of years), plus a special greeting from a group of whales. The speeches are followed by the sounds of nature (waves, wind, rain, animal calls, and bird songs) and human noises such as footsteps, heartbeats, the crying of a baby, men sawing15 wood, trucks and automobiles, and—the most difficult to record—the sound of a kiss.
Three quarters of the record consists of music. If the finders of a Voyager can hear at all, they will have a wide choice: Bach, Beethoven, jazz, a Navajo chant, folk songs, European music of the fifteenth century, a wedding song from Peru, melodies16 from Japan and India, and a very old tune from New Guinea17. The aliens18 will also hear a Mexican band, some rock and roll, and an ancient Chinese melody, “Flowing Streams,” performed on a four-thousand-year-old instrument.
The gold-covered record and its equipment, wrapped in aluminum19 for extra protection, are expected to survive in space for at least a billion years. What sort of beings, if any, will find them? And how will they react? Will they be curious and excited? Or will they be so used to picking up spaceships that they'll be bored to find one more? Will their own history and experiences help them understand what Dr. Sagan's team was trying to show? Will they be impressed by our achievements? Or will they laugh at our clumsy efforts to communicate—if they can laugh? Will they try to locate the blue planet?
The sad fact is: We'll never know.
1977年，两艘名叫“旅行者”一号和二号的宇宙飞船被发射到木星、土星和海王星。在收集并向我们发回有关那些巨星的珍贵信息之后，它们于1989年离开了太阳系。没有人知道它们的太空漫游将持续多久。据科学家们说，“旅行者”号飞船也许会在约4万年之后接近它们轨道上最近的一个星球；再过40万年，其中的一艘船可能会经过另一个星球。而无论哪种情况，飞船同星球的距离都会有1个或2个光年之远，不会有任何碰撞。
宇宙中有无数颗恒星。据信其中一些像我们的太阳一样有许多行星环绕，有些行星上可能存在智能生物，也许比我们更先进。所以很可能大约100万年之后，一些生物乘坐自己的飞船穿越太空时，会发现某艘“旅行者”号飞船。星球之间相距十分遥远，这样的相聚可能性极小，但也并不是完全不可能。为宇宙飞船的航行作准备的科学家们决定在每艘飞船上放上一条信息。他们解释说，“我们也许永远不会再有机会同我们遥远的邻居联系了——没有机会让某些外星人知道曾几何时，太空的某个地方，我们的蓝色星球曾经是相当聪慧的人类的家园，拥有相当的文明。”
第一个困难是决定这条信息应该采用什么形式。如何才能同无法想象的生命进行联系呢？既然人们认为物理学定律在整个宇宙中是一样的，那么所有的生命就一定能以某种方式感知光和声音，即使他们没有和我们一样的眼睛和耳朵。仔细考虑了这个问题之后，科学家们得出结论，传递这一信息的最佳方式是将它录在一张能够重现图像和声音的特制唱片上，连同一根唱针和一幅说明如何使用这一设备的图画装在一起。
一个由科学家、作家、艺术家和音乐家组成的小型委员会得到了准备这一信息的任务。委员会成员们在主要问题上达成了共识。他们都认为必须表明地球在宇宙中的位置，展示它的外观，让别人了解地球文化的丰富多彩。
这条信息长两个小时。它从116幅无声画面开始，首先是一张太阳系的图画和一些从太空上拍摄到的地球照片。一组图片首先展示了地球的生活画面：一个男人，一个女人，一个正在给婴儿喂奶的母亲，一群大孩子和一个家庭。为了说明地球上的人们生活在社会之中，还有一些人们吃饭、工作、烧饭和一起玩耍的照片。然后出现了各行各业的人：舞者、渔夫，还有不同种族和文化的成员。有树、沙滩和岛屿，树叶和雪，一座活火山，甚至还展示了一场地震。有小到蜜蜂大到大象之类的动物。我们一些最宏伟的建筑和桥梁、以及世界各地的普通房子代表人类的成就。各种工具和机器图片也包含其中，有医疗器械和科学仪器、一家超市、一座繁忙的机场以及一艘正在发射的宇宙飞船。还有一张照片描绘了一群鸟儿飞过绚丽晚霞的情景。
在无声地展示了我们的世界之后，唱片播出了地球上的各种声音。这一部分的信息从简短的55种语言讲话开始（包括已经几千年没有使用的语言），加上来自一群鲸鱼的问候。这些语言之后是大自然的声音（海浪、风、雨、动物的叫声和鸟的歌唱）和人类的声响如脚步声、心跳声、婴儿的啼哭、男人们的锯木声、卡车和汽车的声音，还有——最难录制的——一个亲吻的声音。
这张唱片的四分之三由音乐构成。如果“旅行者”号的发现者真的能够听到，他们会听到很多内容：巴赫，贝多芬，爵士乐，一支纳瓦霍曲子，民歌，15世纪的欧洲音乐，一首秘鲁的婚礼歌曲，一些日本和印度弦律，一支新几内亚的古老乐曲。外星人还会听到一支墨西哥乐队的演奏，一些摇滚乐和一件具有四千年历史的乐器演奏的中国古曲《流水》。
这张镀金唱片和它的播放设备，一起用铝包裹起来作为进一步保护，可望在宇宙中保存至少10亿年。如果有生命的话，哪一种会发现它们呢？他们会作何反应？他们会好奇和激动吗？或者他们对于发现宇宙飞船已经习以为常，再发现一艘会使他们感到厌倦？他们的历史和经历会帮助他们理解萨根博士领导的小组试图展示的东西吗？他们会对我们的成就留下深刻的印象吗？或者他们会嘲笑我们为进行联系所作的笨拙努力？——如果他们会笑的话。他们会设法找到这个蓝色的星球吗？
令人伤心的事实是：我们永远不得而知。
1. spacecraft n． 飞船
2． Jupiter n． 木星
Saturn n． 天王星
Neptune n． 海王星
3． crash n． 碰撞
4． universe n． 宇宙
5． intelligent beings 智能生命
6． civilized adj． 文明的
7． perceive v． 察觉，感觉
8． record n． 唱片
9． pack v． 包装
10． variety n． 多样化
11． representation n． 表现演示
12． Earthlings n． 居住在地球上的人
13． volcano n． 火山
14． gorgeous adj． 灿烂的；华丽的
15． saw v． 锯(木)
16． melody n． 旋律
17． New Guinea n． 新几内亚
18． alien adj． 地球外的；外星球的
19． aluminum n． 铝