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Pioneer Plaque

Spacecraft:  Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11
Produced by:  NASA
Copyright: NASA Copyright Free Policy

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On the plaque a man and woman stand before an outline of the spacecraft. The man's hand is raised in a gesture of good will. The physical makeup of the man and woman were determined from results of a computerized analysis of the average person in our civilization.

The key to translating the plaque lies in understanding the breakdown of the most common element in the universe - hydrogen. This element is illustrated in the left-hand corner of the plaque in schematic form showing the hyperfine transition of neutral atomic hydrogen. Anyone from a scientifically educated civilization having enough knowledge of hydrogen would be able to translate the message. The plaque was designed by Dr. Carl Sagan of Cornell University and drawn by his wife, Linda Salzman Sagan.

Copyright © 1995-2016 by Calvin J. Hamilton. All rights reserved.