On August 3 in celebration of the 40th anniversary month of the Voyager interstellar mission, please join me at San Francisco's Exploratorium to experience the Voyager Golden Record with two of the brilliant minds behind it — SETI pioneer Frank Drake and science writer Timothy Ferris.
In August and September 1977, NASA launched two spacecraft, Voyager 1 and 2, on a grand tour of the solar system and beyond, into the mysteries of interstellar space. Mounted to each spacecraft is a golden phonograph record, a message to introduce our civilization to extraterrestrials, perhaps billions of years from now. Ozma Records, the label I co-founded with my friend Timothy Daly, is releasing the Voyager Golden Record as a box set of vinyl LPs so those on Earth can hear it as it was meant to be played. The accompanying book contains all of the images encoded on the Voyager record, an original essay by Timothy Ferris, and a gallery of photos transmitted back from the probes. As our co-producer/designer Lawrence Azerrad has said, "It is the ultimate album package of the ultimate album package." (The limited edition super-deluxe Kickstarter edition will not be repressed but please keep an eye on our Twitter feed @ozmarecords for announcements from us in the next few weeks.)
At the Exploratorium's August 3 After Dark event, themed around "Our Place in Space," we'll play the Voyager Record on the museum's incredible Meyer Sound system while projecting the images encoded on the disc. Then, at 8pm, Frank Drake and Timothy Ferris will join me on stage to discuss this incredible artifact that was a gift from humanity to the cosmos, but also a gift to humanity.
"The launching of this 'bottle' into the cosmic 'ocean' says something very hopeful about life on this planet," wrote Carl Sagan, executive director of the original Voyager Interstellar Record project.
Our Voyager Golden Record program is just one of several fantastic events happening at the Exploratorium that evening. My friend Adam Savage will show off his space-inspired projects, NASA systems engineer Bobak Ferdowsi will talk about exploring planets with robots, astronomer Isabel Hawkins will deliver a how-to on viewing the upcoming solar eclipse, and much more. I hope to see you there!
Our Place in Space
The Exploratorium (San Francisco)
Thursday, August 3, 2017
6:00–10:00 p.m.
