NASA’s Design for Message Heading to Jupiter’s Moon Europa
There's a legacy of NASA spacecraft carrying inspirational messages into the cosmos, and Europa Clipper will continue this tradition when it launches in October 2024 to Europa, a moon of Jupiter that shows strong evidence of an ocean under its icy crust. A triangular plate seals an opening in the spacecraft’s vault, which protects Europa Clipper’s electronics from Jupiter’s radiation. The plate will carry a special message into the cosmos.
At the heart of the artifact is an engraving of U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón’s handwritten “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa,” along with a silicon microchip stenciled with more than 2.6 million names submitted by the public. The microchip will be the centerpiece of an illustration of a bottle amid the Jovian system – a reference to NASA’s “Message in a Bottle” campaign, which invited the public to send their names with the spacecraft.
To learn more about the vault plate, go to: https://europa.nasa.gov/spacecraft/vault-plate/
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Transcript
[music]
Three, two, one. Engine Ignition.
[Narrator] There's a legacy of NASA spacecraft carrying inspirational messages from Earth, going back to the Pioneer Plaque and the Voyager Golden Record. Now, Europa Clipper – a new mission from one ocean world to another – will continue this tradition.
Because water connects our planet Earth and Jupiter's moon Europa, all life as we know it, and all human cultures a part of the spacecraft has been engraved with designs inspired by water and human connections.
This metal plate is part of a structure that will protect the spacecraft's electronics from the threat of Jupiter’s radiation.
On one side of the plate is a design we call “Water Words.” These rippling lines represent recordings of the word for "water" in a diverse collection of human languages.
The other side of the plate is a montage of elements that complete our message in a bottle. At the top is the Drake Equation – a tribute to the visionary idea that the probability of finding life in the cosmos is something we can estimate.
Next, these two lines represent radio frequencies emitted in space by molecules related to water, which have been considered an ideal place to search for interstellar communications, as suggested by some researchers. They represent our ability to use the language of science to search for signs of life.
Next is a portrait of one of the founders of planetary science, Dr. Ron Greeley, whose early efforts to develop a Europa mission laid the foundation for Europa Clipper.
At the heart of this message in a bottle is a poem in the handwriting of U.S. poet laureate Ada Limón. The poem connects the two water worlds — Earth, yearning to reach out and understand what makes a world habitable, and Europa, waiting with secrets yet to be explored.
Finally, the bottle orbited by the four largest moons of Jupiter to which will be attached a microchip etched with more than 2.6 million names of those who signed on in the spirit of the poem as our message is sent on its voyage to Europa.
As technically advanced as the spacecraft is, every part of it is made by people. And all of the markings on the plate are either handwritten, hand drawn, or represent human voices and names.
Because exploration is something we do together, something that connects us all as we head out into the cosmic sea.
JOIN US ON THE JOURNEY TO EUROPA.
FIND OUT MORE AT GO.NASA.GOV/MAKEWAVES
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