The cards launched by NASA carry the hope of communicating with extraterrestrials. But now they are afraid that this will actually happen.
In 1970, NASA launched to space several maps revealing the position of Earth on a total of four ships, in the hope that the aliens would find us and contact us.
But now many experts are very concerned about this action. As Dr Frank Drake – a former NASA expert – shared, he believes this decision is potentially more dangerous than we realize.
Specifically, it was Dr Drake who designed the maps and placed them on two Pioneer 10 and 11 ships – initially from 1972 to 1973. Then in 1977, two similar maps were loaded by NASA on Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. Now four of the ships have passed through the solar system and entered space, carrying information about the location of Earth.
“That day, all of the study participants were very optimistic that aliens should be friendly.” – Drake shared in an interview.
“No one thought, even for a moment, that such an action could result in danger.”
The message that came with Pioneer shows a pair of men and women, as well as a basic map of Earth’s position in relation to distant constellations. These constellations will continue to shine and serve as a guide for extraterrestrials, even if they receive them millions of years after this point.
As for the Voyager, both carry a gold plaque engraved with a number of notes and a map similar to the Pioneer, in an attempt to reveal the ship’s departure location and its travel route. In addition, the board also has some notations on volcanoes, thunder … and human-related sounds such as trains, crowds …
Maps onboard Voyager 1 and 2
However, Dr. Drake also believes that the likelihood of aliens gaining access to this map is not high, if not extremely low.
“After several accelerations, these ships are moving at around 10,000 m / s. But at this rate, it will take half a million years to reach another star.”
But anyway, Drake isn’t the only one who thinks humans shouldn’t have contact with aliens.
Stephen Hawking – the most famous professor of theoretical physics today also agrees, saying that the approach of another civilization could destroy our Earth.
