Narrator: FAR ABOVE THE EARTH, TWO TINY SPACECRAFT
ARE RAISING THE SPIRIT OF EXPLORATION
TO EXTRAORDINARY LEVELS.
FOR THREE AND A HALF DECADES, THEY'VE BEEN INVESTIGATING
THE OUTER REACHES OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.
THEY ARE THE VOYAGERS.
VOYAGER WAS THE RIGHT SPACECRAFT AT THE RIGHT TIME.
WHEN A HUGE AMOUNT OF STUFF WAS WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED
AND VOYAGER WAS CAPABLE OF DISCOVERING IT.
VOYAGER WAS THE SEMINAL MISSION OF THE PAST 50 YEARS.
IT REPRESENTS THE GOLDEN AGE OF SPACE EXPLORATION.
Narrator: THE VOYAGER JOURNEYS HAVE BEEN DRIVEN
BY REMARKABLE HUMAN ENDEAVOR AND ACHIEVEMENT.
THEY'VE BEEN A WINDOW INTO WORLDS
ALMOST BEYOND IMAGINATION.
AND THEY HAVE HELPED UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.
EACH SPACECRAFT CARRIES A GOLDEN DISK.
IT HOLDS A SNAPSHOT OF HUMANITY,
A DISPATCH TO THE STARS.
HELLO FROM THE CHILDREN OF PLANET EARTH.
AND NOW THE VOYAGER MISSION
IS ABOUT TO CROSS THE FINAL FRONTIER.
THEY'RE THE FIRST OBJECTS BUILT BY HUMANS EVER
TO PASS BEYOND THE SOLAR SYSTEM
AND INTO THE GALAXY BEYOND.
-- Captions by VITAC -- www.vitac.com
CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
[ FLEETWOOD MAC'S "NEVER GOING BACK AGAIN" PLAYING ]
¶ SHE BROKE DOWN AND LET ME IN ¶
Narrator: IT'S 1977,
AND FLEETWOOD MAC HAVE JUST RELEASED "RUMOURS".
THE WORLD FEELS LIKE A DIFFERENT PLACE.
...OF THE UNITED STATES.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
JIMMY CARTER IS THE NEW AMERICAN PRESIDENT,
AND ELVIS HAS JUST DIED.
THE CAUSE OF DEATH IS CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIA.
¶ BEEN DOWN ONE TIME ¶
Narrator: A NEW COMPANY CALLED APPLE COMPUTERS HAS JUST BEEN FOUNDED.
¶ I WAS STROLLING ON THE MOON ONE DAY ¶
Narrator: AND IT'S NOT BEEN LONG
SINCE THE FINAL APOLLO MISSION LANDED ON THE MOON.
THE PUBLIC HAS GONE CRAZY FOR FILMS LIKE "STAR WARS"
AND "CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND".
AND THIS COMBINATION OF BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY
AND EXCITING SCIENCE FICTION
HAS HELPED TO INSPIRE A SURPRISING PROJECT.
IN AUGUST, 1977, NASA BEGAN
ONE OF THE GREATEST ADVENTURES IN THE HISTORY OF SPACE FLIGHT.
Man: 3...2...1...0.
Narrator: HERE WERE TWO UNMANNED SPACE PROBES
ATTEMPTING SOMETHING
STRAIGHT OUT OF AN ARTHUR C. CLARKE STORY.
THEIR MISSION -- TO EXPLORE THE OUTER PLANETS
OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM --
JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS, AND NEPTUNE.
THEIR FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH JUPITER
WOULD BE 2.5 BILLION MILES AWAY.
THE TWO SPACECRAFT WERE NOW HEADING ON THEIR EPIC JOURNEY,
BUT THE STORY OF THE VOYAGER MISSION
BEGAN ALMOST 20 YEARS EARLIER.
THE FIRST OBJECT LAUNCHED INTO ORBIT
WAS SPUTNIK I.
[ STEADY BEEPING ]
AND FROM THEN ON, SPACE SCIENTISTS BECAME OBSESSED
WITH JOURNEYING EVER FURTHER FROM EARTH,
EXPLORING THE FAR REACHES OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.
YET NO SPACECRAFT COULD GET MUCH FURTHER THAN MARS,
AND EVEN THAT WAS A STRUGGLE.
IN 1961, IN CALIFORNIA,
ONE MAN THOUGHT HE MIGHT KNOW
HOW TO BRING THESE PLANETS INTO REACH.
MICHAEL MINOVITCH WAS A BRILLIANT MATH GRADUATE.
Minovitch: MY FATHER TAUGHT ME HOW TO DO ARITHMETIC WHEN I WAS
LIKE IN THE FOURTH OR FIFTH GRADE,
AND THEN I LEARNED THE LANGUAGE --
THE SECRET OF SCIENCE.
AND THE SECRET OF SCIENCE IS MATHEMATICS.
Narrator: AT THE AGE OF 25,
WHILE HE WAS STILL STUDYING FOR HIS PhD AT UCLA,
MINOVITCH CHALLENGED HIMSELF TO SOLVE
THE MOST DIFFICULT PROBLEM IN SPACE EXPLORATION...
...A SOLUTION TO THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM.
THE ABILITY TO PREDICT EXACTLY
HOW A SPACECRAFT PASSING A PLANET
WOULD HAVE ITS PATH AFFECTED WAS STILL BEYOND SCIENCE.
UNTIL, THAT IS, THE YOUNG MINOVITCH CAME ALONG.
IT WOULD'VE BEEN REGARDED AS AN IMPOSSIBILITY
PRIOR TO WHAT I DID IN 1961.
I WAS GIFTED, BEING AT A UNIVERSITY
THAT HAD THE 7090 COMPUTER, SO THAT WAS THE KEY.
Narrator: UCLA'S STATE-OF-THE-ART IBM COMPUTER
WAS THE FASTEST ON EARTH AT THE TIME,
AND MINOVITCH PUT IT TO GOOD USE.
HE BEGAN CALCULATING THOUSANDS OF ALTERNATIVE DIRECTIONS
IN SPEEDS IN AN ATTEMPT TO HOME IN ON THE SOLUTION.
IT WAS A LONG SHOT NOT ONLY FOR THE YOUNG STUDENT,
BUT ALSO FOR THE UNIVERSITY.
WORKING ON A 7090 WAS COSTING THE UNIVERSITY $1,000 AN HOUR,
SO THEY WERE DUMPING BUSHELS OF MONEY
INTO A FANTASTIC BELIEF. AND WHAT WAS THE BELIEF?
BELIEF THAT A PERSON THAT HADN'T EVEN GOT HIS PhD
SOLVED THE PROBLEM THAT ALL THE MOST ADVANCED MATHEMATICIANS
IN HISTORY COULDN'T SOLVE.
THAT MEANT PRESSURE ON ME.
AND SO, I THOUGHT TO MYSELF, HOW COULD I --
I CAN'T LIVE WITH MYSELF, GIVEN THIS GIFT,
KNOWING THAT THERE'S A VERY STRONG POSSIBILITY
THAT MY TRAJECTORIES WERE NOT CORRECT.
Narrator: MINOVITCH WENT TO THE PEOPLE
WITH THE MOST ACCURATE DATA
ON THE SOLAR SYSTEM AT THE TIME --
NASA'S JET PROPULSION LABORATORY IN PASADENA.
THEY WOULD DECIDE IF HE'D SOLVED THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM
OR JUST WASTED A LOT OF THE UNIVERSITY'S MONEY.
THEY RAN THE TESTS
ABOUT FOUR OR FIVE DIFFERENT TRAJECTORY TYPES,
DIFFERENT ENCOUNTERS,
AND FOUND EVERY SINGLE ONE CONVERGED TO THE EXACT SOLUTION.
Narrator: IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL MOMENT IN MATHEMATICS.
BY SOLVING THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM,
MINOVITCH HAD DISCOVERED A WAY TO USE GRAVITY
TO PROPEL A SPACECRAFT FURTHER AND FASTER THAN EVER BEFORE.
AND WHAT MINOVITCH REALIZED WAS,
AS A SPACECRAFT APPROACHES THE PLANET,
IT GETS PULLED IN BY ITS GRAVITY,
AND AS LONG AS IT DOESN'T CRASH INTO THE PLANET,
BY USING THE SLINGSHOT TECHNIQUE,
MINOVITCH HAD OPENED A GATEWAY TO THE OUTER PLANETS,
AT LEAST THEORETICALLY.
HE IDENTIFIED HUNDREDS
OF POSSIBLE MISSIONS TO THE PLANETS,
METICULOUSLY DRAWING THEM UP IN HIS NOTEBOOKS.
THE CONCEPT THAT I INVENTED,
AND I CAN SHOW YOU THE PRINTOUT.
IF YOU LOOK HERE, YOU'LL SEE THERE WAS NO LIMIT.
I COULD HAVE A SEQUENCE
THAT WAS 100 PLANETS LONG, NONSTOP --
PLANET TO PLANET TO PLANET.
LAUNCH FROM EARTH, AND THEN YOU COME TO JUPITER.
NOW JUPITER, YOU GET A NICE, BIG BOUNCE,
AND YOU USE THAT TO PROPEL YOURSELF TO SATURN,
AND THEN SATURN IS A PRETTY DARN BIG PLANET,
AND THAT'LL CATAPULT YOU OUT TO PLUTO.
THIS CONCEPT COULD BE USED
TO EXPLORE THE WHOLE SOLAR SYSTEM
WITH ONE LAUNCH VEHICLE AT ONE TIME,
WITHOUT ANY ROCKET PROPULSION AT ALL.
Narrator: AT NASA'S JPL,
ANOTHER STUDENT WAS HIRED TO CRUNCH NUMBERS
FOR A MISSION TO THE OUTER PLANETS.
Flandro: OBVIOUSLY, THE FIRST THING IS TO DETERMINE
WHEN THE PLANETS ARE GOING TO BE
IN POSITIONS WHERE WE COULD REACH THEM.
SO, I DREW VERY CAREFUL MAPS OF WHERE THE PLANETS WOULD BE,
AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DRAWINGS
WAS ONE IN WHICH I DREW THE POSITIONS OF THE PLANETS
VERSUS THE DATE.
AND THE THING THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION IMMEDIATELY
WAS THAT THE LINES FOR JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS,
AND NEPTUNE ALL CROSSED IN ABOUT THE 1975-'76 TIME PERIOD.
IN OTHER WORDS, THOSE FOUR MAJOR PLANETS
WERE ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE SUN
AND IN THE SAME GENERAL POSITION
AT THE SAME TIME,
SO IT GAVE ME THE IDEA IMMEDIATELY
THAT WE COULD DO ALL OF THOSE PLANETS
WITH ONE FLIGHT.
Narrator: THIS NARROW WINDOW
TO SLINGSHOT FROM ONE PLANET STRAIGHT TO THE NEXT
WOULD NOT OPEN AGAIN FOR ANOTHER 176 YEARS.
IT WAS TOO GOOD AN OPPORTUNITY TO MISS.
AND SO WAS BORN THE IDEA OF A GRAND TOUR,
THE MOST AMBITIOUS SPACE MISSION
OF ITS TIME.
IT WOULD SEND TWO IDENTICAL SPACE PROBES
TO ALL FOUR OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM'S OUTER PLANETS
IN ONE RELATIVELY SHORT FLIGHT.
THESE ENCOUNTERS PROMISED SPECTACULAR VIEWS
OF THESE DISTANT WORLDS,
PLANETS WE ONLY KNEW AS BLURRY OBJECTS THROUGH TELESCOPES.
THE HALF-BILLION MILES TO JUPITER
WOULD TAKE TWO YEARS, THEN ANOTHER TWO YEARS TO SATURN.
FIVE MORE TO URANUS,
AND A FINAL THREE TO REACH NEPTUNE.
FOR THESE JOURNEYS TO BE SUCCESSFUL,
IT MEANT THE VOYAGER SPACE PROBES
WOULD NEED TO FUNCTION FOR AT LEAST 12 YEARS,
YET NASA HAD NEVER BUILT A SPACECRAFT GUARANTEED
TO LAST LONGER THAN A FEW MONTHS.
Casani: THE ISSUE IS THE TIME.
IT TAKES TIME TO COVER THAT DISTANCE.
YOU'RE GOING A LONG WAYS, AND THAT TAKES TIME,
AND THE TIME IS CAN YOU MAKE ALL THESE MACHINES
OPERATE WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION
OR WITHOUT ADJUSTMENT?
WELL, I MEAN,
AT THAT POINT IN TIME,
THAT WAS A MIND-BLOWING THOUGHT --
OF HOW YOU BUILD A SPACECRAFT THAT CAN SURVIVE FAILURES
AND STILL KEEP ON CHUGGING.
Narrator: FIVE YEARS OF TESTING AND REDESIGNING FOLLOWED,
AS NASA'S ENGINEERS GRAPPLED WITH THE TASK
OF BUILDING A SPACECRAFT CAPABLE OF THE JOB.
AND THEY NEEDED TO DO IT BEFORE 1977,
WHEN THE LAUNCH WINDOW FOR THIS GRAND TOUR
WOULD CLOSE AT LEAST FOR ANOTHER 176 YEARS.
Casani: THE THING THAT WAS SCARY WAS
THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE BASED ON A LOT OF NEW TECHNOLOGY,
SO IT WAS A TECHNOLOGICAL LEAP.
WE THOUGHT WE COULD DO IT.
NOBODY ELSE DID, YOU KNOW?
Narrator: THEY'D CRACKED THE MATHEMATICS.
THEY WERE CONFIDENT TACKLING THE TECHNOLOGY.
BUT THERE WAS ONE MORE THING THEY NEEDED --
MONEY.
NASA STILL LACKED THE FUNDING
TO SUPPORT THE MISSION BEYOND SATURN.
TO ENSURE FURTHER FUNDING,
THE PUBLIC AND CONGRESS
WOULD NEED REGULAR REMINDERS OF THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS.
THE VOYAGERS NEEDED A VOICE,
SOMEONE WHO COULD TURN THEIR SAGA
OF CELESTIAL EXPLORATION
INTO SOMETHING THAT ALL AMERICANS COULD SHARE.
THEY TURNED TO A YOUNG MEMBER OF THE VOYAGER TEAM
WITH A PASSION FOR STORYTELLING.
HIS NAME WAS CARL SAGAN.
WOULDN'T IT BE LOVELY TO MAKE CONTACT
WITH ANOTHER CIVILIZATION
THAT HAS ARISEN AND EVOLVED INDEPENDENTLY?
Narrator: AWARE THAT THE VOYAGERS WOULD HEAD AWAY FROM US FOREVER,
SAGAN PROPOSED AN EXTRAORDINARY IDEA.
ONBOARD EACH SPACECRAFT,
HE SUGGESTED PLACING A MESSAGE FROM EARTH,
AN IDEA WITH THE POTENTIAL
TO CAPTURE THE PUBLIC IMAGINATION.
Sagan: ATTACHED TO EACH SPACECRAFT
IS A FAIRLY ELABORATE MESSAGE
IN THE FORM OF A PHONOGRAPH RECORD
AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR PLAYING.
IT WAS A GOLD-PLATED COPPER RECORD,
A GIFT OF RECORDINGS AND GREETINGS
FROM THE INHABITANTS OF THIS PLANET
TO THOSE OF SOME OTHER.
[ CLASSICAL PIANO PLAYING ]
[ WOMAN SAYING "HELLO" IN MULTIPLE FOREIGN LANGUAGES ]
EACH DISK CONTAINED A COMBINATION
OF SOUNDS AND PICTURES, AND ABOVE ALL,
MUSIC FROM CHUCK BERRY TO AZERBAIJANI BAGPIPES
AND JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH.
SAGAN ARGUED THAT SOMETIME, SOMEWHERE,
ANOTHER CIVILIZATION MAY FIND ONE OF THE VOYAGERS.
THE RECORD'S PURPOSE WAS TO TELL THEM
WHAT KIND OF CREATURES HAD SENT IT.
Sagan: HOW MUCH WILL THEY KNOW ABOUT US,
ABOUT WHAT WE'RE REALLY LIKE?
TO COMMUNICATE THAT, MUSIC IS A WAY
OF EXPRESSION OF HUMAN FEELINGS, DESIRES, PASSIONS, HOPES.
IN SOME SENSE, ALL THE PERFORMERS
AND COMPOSERS ON THIS RECORD WILL LIVE FOREVER.
Narrator: WITH THEIR GOLDEN RECORDS ONBOARD
AND THE PUBLIC'S IMAGINATION FIRED UP,
THE GRAND TOUR WAS UNDERWAY,
BUT NO ONE COULD KNOW IF THE MISSION WAS GOING
TO DELIVER RESULTS
UNTIL THE VOYAGERS REACHED THEIR FIRST PLANET,
AND THAT WOULD TAKE TWO LONG YEARS.
IT'S A CROSS.
Narrator: APRIL, 1979,
AND TWO YEARS AFTER LAUNCH,
MISSION CONTROL WAS STEERING THE VOYAGERS
TOWARDS THEIR FIRST RENDEZVOUS.
IT WAS THE LARGEST PLANET IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM --
JUPITER.
BEFORE VOYAGER, THE BEST IMAGES ASTRONOMERS HAD
OF JUPITER AND ITS MOONS WERE FUZZY PHOTOGRAPHS.
COULD THE VOYAGERS CHANGE ALL THAT?
Stone: I THINK WE ALL FELT
THAT WE WERE IN THE TRADITION OF GALILEO,
WHO WAS THE FIRST TO SEE THE MOONS OF JUPITER
AND THE FIRST TO APPLY AN INSTRUMENT
TO INCREASE OUR ABILITY TO OBSERVE THE UNIVERSE.
VOYAGER WAS JUST THE LATEST TOOL
WHICH WE AS A CIVILIZATION HAD MANAGED TO DEVISE,
AND OF COURSE, THE TOOL WAS SO POWERFUL
THAT WE SAW THINGS NOBODY HAD SEEN BEFORE,
AND THAT NOBODY HAD IMAGINED WE WOULD SEE.
SEE, I'M A WEATHERMAN. I'M AN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENTIST,
AND WE KNEW ABOUT 300-YEAR-OLD STORMS, THE GREAT RED SPOT,
BECAUSE PEOPLE HAD BEEN LOOKING AT IT FROM EARTH,
AND FOR ME, THE SURPRISE WAS, WHEN WE GOT UP CLOSE,
WE SAW THAT THE ATMOSPHERE WAS JUST CHURNING AND TURBULENT,
AND IT MADE THIS 300-YEAR-OLD STORM
ALL THE MORE MYSTERIOUS,
'CAUSE HOW COULD IT GO ON IN THE MIDST
OF ALL THIS TURBULENCE?
Narrator: IN ADDITION TO EXTREME WEATHER,
JUPITER HAS AN IMMENSE MAGNETIC FIELD,
10,000 TIMES STRONGER THAN EARTH'S,
AND FOR THE VOYAGERS, THAT WAS A PROBLEM,
BECAUSE THIS MAGNETISM CREATES LETHAL RADIATION BELTS
WHICH CAN SCRAMBLE THE COMPUTERS
OF ANY SPACECRAFT THAT GETS TOO CLOSE.
YET, GETTING CLOSE WAS EXACTLY WHAT WAS NEEDED.
THE VOYAGER TEAM WANTED TO SEND VOYAGER 1 TO EXPLORE IO,
ONE OF JUPITER'S FOUR LARGEST MOONS,
AND IT WAS THE NEAREST OF ALL OF THEM TO THE PLANET.
THE SPACECRAFT WAS DESIGNED
TO WITHSTAND A CERTAIN TOTAL DOSE OF RADIATION,
AND FULLY 50% OF THAT EXPECTED DOSE
WAS GOING TO OCCUR AS WE APPROACHED AND FLEW BY IO.
[ HIGH-PITCHED WHISTLING ]
Narrator: AS VOYAGER 1 APPROACHED,
IT SENT BACK RECORDINGS
OF THE RADIO SIGNAL GENERATED BY THE RADIATION.
THESE ARE THE REAL SOUNDS OF THE ONSLAUGHT.
BACK AT JPL, THE VOYAGER TEAM WORRIED
WHETHER IT COULD WITHSTAND SUCH AN ASSAULT,
AND IF THE GAMBLE WOULD PAY OFF.
VOYAGER NAVIGATION ENGINEER LYNDA HYDER
WAS THE FIRST TO FIND OUT.
Hyder: WELL, I CAME IN ABOUT 9:00 THAT MORNING
TO THE NAVIGATION AREA, AND THE TAPE WITH THE PICTURES
THE SPACECRAFT HAD TAKEN THE DAY BEFORE WAS ON MY DESK.
I PUT THEM ON THE COMPUTER SYSTEM AND I DISPLAYED THEM.
AND I COULD SEE THAT IO, THE MOON OF IO, WAS A CRESCENT,
AS VERY OFTEN OUR OWN MOON IS, A CRESCENT IN THE NIGHT SKY.
AND I WENT AND ENHANCED THE BRIGHTNESS,
AND THERE APPEARED, BESIDE IO, AN OBJECT --
A HUGE OBJECT,
AND IT COMPLETELY CAPTURED MY ATTENTION.
IT LOOKED LIKE ANOTHER MOON PEEKING OUT BEHIND IO.
BUT THERE WAS NO OTHER MOON,
AND THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAMERA.
LYNDA DECIDED THIS OBJECT HAD TO BE PART OF IO.
AND, IN FACT, THAT WAS VERY HARD TO ACCEPT,
BECAUSE THE SIZE OF THIS OBJECT WAS ENORMOUS.
AND WHEN I EXPLORED IT, I WAS ABLE TO FIND
THAT THIS LARGE, STRANGE OBJECT --
IT WAS EXACTLY COINCIDENT
AND FELL OVER A HEART-SHAPED FEATURE ON IO.
WHAT I HAD DISCOVERED WAS THE HUGE PLUME
OF A VOLCANIC ERUPTION
ARISING 270 KILOMETERS
OVER THE SURFACE OF IO AND RAINING BACK DOWN ONTO IT.
SO I HAD DISCOVERED THE FIRST-EVER VOLCANIC ERUPTION
EVER SEEN ON ANOTHER WORLD BESIDES THE EARTH.
Narrator: THE GAMBLE OF BEING EXPOSED TO SUCH RADIATION HAD PAID OFF.
VOYAGER 1 HAD REVEALED THAT IO,
THE CLOSEST OF JUPITER'S LARGE MOONS,
WAS MORE GEOLOGICALLY ACTIVE THAN THE EARTH.
JUPITER'S ENORMOUS GRAVITY STRETCHES AND SQUEEZES THE MOON,
FORCING ITS CORE TO HEAT UP
AND ITS INTERIOR TO STAY MOLTEN.
WITH JUPITER BEHIND THEM,
THE TWO VOYAGER SPACECRAFT
HEADED FURTHER OUT INTO INTERPLANETARY SPACE.
IT WOULD BE MORE THAN TWO YEARS
BEFORE THEY REACHED THE NEXT DESTINATION
ON THEIR GRAND TOUR --
THE PLANET SATURN,
ALMOST A BILLION MILES AWAY.
Narrator: THE TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING
NEEDED TO ACCOMPLISH VOYAGER'S LONG-DISTANCE,
LONG-DURATION SPACE FLIGHT WAS TRULY REMARKABLE.
THE SPACECRAFT NEEDED TO BE DESIGNED
TO COPE WITH ANYTHING
THEIR MULTI-BILLION-MILE JOURNEY WOULD THROW AT THEM.
[ BOSTON'S "MORE THAN A FEELING" PLAYING ]
IN 1981, TWO YEARS FROM THE STUNNING IMAGES OF JUPITER,
THE PUBLIC WAS LINING UP TO GET THEIR FIRST CLEAR VIEWS
OF THE MYSTERIOUS RINGED PLANET SATURN.
¶ MORE THAN A FEELIN' ¶
¶ WHEN I HEAR THAT OLD SONG THEY USED TO PLAY ¶
¶ MORE THAN A FEELIN' ¶
¶ I BEGIN DREAMIN' ¶
THE VOYAGER TEAM HAD PREPARED IN METICULOUS DETAIL
FOR THE ENCOUNTER.
THEY KNEW THEY HAD JUST A TINY WINDOW
TO GET IT RIGHT.
EACH SPACECRAFT WOULD FLY BY SO QUICKLY,
ON SUCH A CLOSE APPROACH,
THERE WAS ALMOST NO TIME TO GATHER DATA.
THE CLOSEST APPROACH FLYBY SEQUENCES ARE A MATTER OF HOURS.
YOU KNOW, REALLY, THE TIGHTEST, CLOSEST APPROACH ACTIVITY'S
WITHIN ABOUT A 12-HOUR SPAN.
Narrator: IN PARTICULAR, THE TEAM NEEDED TO DECIDE
WHERE TO POINT THE CAMERAS.
THE SCAN PLATFORM, WHICH INCLUDED THE CAMERAS
AND THE SPECTROMETERS --
AM I GONNA POINT IT AT THE MOON? AND WHICH MOON?
OR AM I GONNA POINT IT AT THE PLANET?
OR WHICH WAY AM I GONNA POINT IT?
AND SO YOU HAVE TO ARGUE WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES.
BLUE-ISH.
BLUER THAN GRAY.
Narrator: BUT IT WAS THE RINGS OF SATURN WHICH STOLE THE SHOW.
Flandro: WHEN I BEGAN MY WORK, I HAD SUGGESTED
THAT ONE THING WE COULD DO WITH THIS PARTICULAR MISSION
WAS TO FLY BETWEEN THE PLANET AND THE RINGS,
AND, VERY FORTUNATELY, WE DIDN'T DO THAT,
BECAUSE AS WE APPROACHED SATURN,
WE SAW THAT THE REGION THERE
THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE FLOWN THROUGH WITH THE SPACECRAFT
WAS FILLED WITH MORE RINGS. THERE WAS NO QUESTION
THAT SPACECRAFT WOULD NOT HAVE SURVIVED
TRYING TO GO THROUGH THAT GAP.
Narrator: THE IMAGING TEAM COULD BARELY COPE WITH ALL THE NEW DATA.
WHAT I REMEMBER, IT WASN'T REALLY STRESSFUL,
BUT IT WAS JUST CHAOTIC AND HECTIC AND EXCITING
RIGHT THE FEW DAYS AROUND THE ENCOUNTER,
TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH THE DISCOVERIES AS THEY POURED IN.
EVENTUALLY, NO ONE GOT ANY SLEEP
BECAUSE WE WERE JUST OVERWHELMED WITH NEW STUFF.
WELL, LOOK AT THOSE. NOW THOSE ARE REALLY ODD.
Narrator: VOYAGER REVEALED STRANGE FEATURES CALLED SPOKES --
PATCHES OF DUST PARTICLES SLIGHTLY RAISED ABOVE THE RINGS.
BY STUDYING A SERIES OF TIME-LAPSE PICTURES
OF THE SPOKES, THE VOYAGER TEAM
DISCOVERED THEY FOLLOWED SATURN'S MAGNETIC FIELD
AS IT ROTATED WITH THE PLANET.
FOUR YEARS SINCE LAUNCH,
THE VOYAGERS HAD, SO FAR, BEEN A WILD SUCCESS.
BUT NOW CAME THE MISSION PLANNERS' BIGGEST GAMBLE.
HERE AT SATURN,
THE TWIN SPACECRAFT WOULD PART COMPANY.
VOYAGER 1 WOULD BE DIVERTED TOWARDS SATURN'S LARGEST MOON,
TITAN.
IT WAS AN ENTICING TARGET.
Porco: I MEAN, IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE COMPOSITION
OF TITAN'S ATMOSPHERE
MAKES IT KIND OF AN ANALOGUE WITH THE EARTH,
WHICH IS TERRIBLY SURPRISING,
BECAUSE NO ONE EXPECTED, YEARS AGO,
YOU'D FIND AN ANALOGUE OF THE EARTH
OUT AT THE DISTANCE OF SATURN.
Narrator: WITH AN ATMOSPHERE OF SIMILAR DENSITY TO EARTH'S,
IT WAS BELIEVED TITAN MIGHT EVEN HARBOR PRIMITIVE LIFE.
BUT THE MANEUVER CAME AT A GREAT COST.
TO FLY PAST TITAN,
VOYAGER 1'S GRAND TOUR WOULD HAVE TO BE SACRIFICED.
TO VISIT THIS INTRIGUING MOON,
IT NEEDED TO BE PUT ON A DIFFERENT PATH,
THROWING IT UP AT AN ANGLE,
OUT OF THE PLANE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
BEYOND TITAN, THERE WOULD BE NO MORE
PLANETARY ENCOUNTERS FOR VOYAGER 1.
IN THE END, THE TITAN FLYBY WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT.
VOYAGER 1'S CAMERAS COULDN'T PENETRATE ITS ATMOSPHERE
TO OFFER FURTHER CLUES TO WHETHER LIFE MIGHT BE BENEATH.
TITAN WAS THE FIRST MAJOR SETBACK FOR THE VOYAGER TEAM.
IT MEANT VOYAGER 1 HAD BEEN SACRIFICED FOR VERY LITTLE,
AND WAS NOW SPEEDING AWAY FROM THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
Narrator: THE REST OF THE GRAND TOUR
WOULD HAVE TO RELY ON ONE SINGLE SPACECRAFT -- VOYAGER 2.
NOW ON ITS OWN, IT WAS HEADING ACROSS THE SOLAR SYSTEM
TOWARDS THE OUTER-MOST PLANETS.
BUT THEN,
JUST AS IT LEFT SATURN, ANOTHER SETBACK.
THE TEAM NOTICED VOYAGER 2'S CAMERA PLATFORM
HAD STARTED TO JAM.
WITHOUT THE CRUCIAL ABILITY TO PAN ITS CAMERAS,
THERE WOULD BE FEW PICTURES OF THE OTHER OUTER PLANETS.
IT WAS A POTENTIAL DISASTER,
AND THE TEAM STRUGGLED TO FIND THE CAUSE.
Casani: IN THE CASE OF THE STUCK SCAN PLATFORM,
THE EXPECTATION WAS THAT THERE WAS A PIECE OF DEBRIS,
WHICH IS NOT LIKELY.
I MEAN, WE ARE SO CAREFUL
WHEN WE PUT THESE MACHINES TOGETHER.
SO, THEN IT GOES DOWN TO,
"WELL, MAYBE IT'S THE LUBRICANT,
THE WAY THE LUBRICANT HAS DISTRIBUTED ITSELF."
Narrator: SO, HOW DO YOU FIX A SPACECRAFT
THAT'S OVER A BILLION MILES AWAY?
WHAT WE DECIDED TO DO
WAS TO EXERCISE IT VERY CAREFULLY,
MOVING THE GEARS TRAIN BACK AND FORTH SLOWLY OVER THIS SPOT.
AND WE COULD SEE THAT WE WERE MAKING PROGRESS,
AND THEY SAY, "OKAY, THIS IS IT," AND WE WORKED WITH IT.
Narrator: BUT WITHOUT ANY TARGET TO FOCUS THE CAMERAS ON,
THEY HAD NO WAY TO KNOW IF THEIR FIX WAS SUCCESSFUL.
THEY'D ONLY KNOW THAT WHEN VOYAGER 2
REACHED ITS NEXT DESTINATION --
URANUS.
EVEN TRAVELING AT 50,000 AN HOUR,
THIS ENCOUNTER WAS FIVE YEARS AWAY,
WHICH MEANT HALF A DECADE OF UNCERTAINTY AND ANXIETY.
WELL, JUST ABOUT TWO MINUTES AGO,
VOYAGER 2 PASSED THROUGH ITS CLOSEST APPROACH TO URANUS.
[ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ]
Narrator: DESPITE THEIR FIX TO THE SCAN PLATFORM,
WITH LIMITED LIGHT THIS FAR FROM THE SUN,
THE VOYAGER TEAM KNEW THEIR CAMERAS WOULD STRUGGLE.
Stone: VOYAGER WAS PLANNED TO OPERATE AT 1 BILLION MILES AT SATURN.
IT WAS NOW BEING ASKED TO OPERATE
AT 2 BILLION MILES AT URANUS, WHERE THE SUN WAS VERY DIM.
AND WE HAD TO DO SEVERAL THINGS.
FOR INSTANCE, YOU HAVE TO HAVE
MUCH LONGER EXPOSURES ON THE CAMERA,
AND IF YOU HAVE TOO LONG OF AN EXPOSURE,
THE SPACECRAFT'S MOVING VERY RAPIDLY, THINGS BECOME SMEARED.
SO WE HAD TO LEARN HOW TO PROGRAM THE SPACECRAFT
TO TURN AT JUST THE RIGHT RATE
SO IT WOULD COMPENSATE FOR THE MOTION OF THE SPACECRAFT.
THEY HAD TO BASICALLY REPROGRAM THE BRAINS OF THE SPACECRAFT.
IT DIDN'T HAVE VERY MANY BRAINS, BY TODAY'S STANDARDS,
BUT THEY HAD TO REPROGRAM IT,
AND THOSE WERE FANTASTIC ACHIEVEMENTS.
Narrator: AS THE FIRST IMAGES OF URANUS ARRIVED BACK AT EARTH,
IT BECAME CLEAR THE ENGINEERS INGENUITY HAD,
ONCE AGAIN, PAID OFF.
BUT THE EXTRAORDINARY PIN-SHARP PICTURES
OF THIS DISTANT PLANET,
2 BILLION MILES FROM EARTH,
REVEALED TANTALIZINGLY LITTLE.
WOULD THE TEAM DISCOVER MORE AT NEPTUNE,
THE LAST MAJOR PLANET IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM?
THIS MYSTERIOUS WORLD HAD RESISTED INVESTIGATION FROM EVEN
THE MOST POWERFUL TELESCOPES.
TO MAINTAIN ITS TRAJECTORY,
VOYAGER 2 NEEDED TO MAKE A LOW PASS
OVER NEPTUNE'S NORTH POLE,
BUT THIS BROUGHT ITS OWN PROBLEMS.
BECAUSE OF INCREASED SPEED AND APPROACH ANGLE,
VOYAGER 2'S WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY
WOULD BE THE NARROWEST YET.
Stone: THE CHALLENGE AT NEPTUNE
WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT ONE WE'D HAD.
WE HAD TO KNOW, WITHIN ONE SECOND,
WHEN WE WERE GOING TO FLY OVER THE NORTH POLE OF NEPTUNE.
THAT WAS A MAJOR NAVIGATIONAL CHALLENGE.
WE HAD NEVER DELIVERED THAT KIND OF ACCURACY BEFORE,
AND IF WE WERE RIGHT, IT WORKED,
AND IF WE WERE WRONG, WE HAD NO SECOND CHANCE.
Narrator: NOT ONLY DID THE TEAM NEED TO POSITION A SPACECRAFT
WITHIN A SECOND OF ACCURACY AFTER A FLIGHT OF 12 YEARS,
BUT TO ENSURE SCIENTIFIC SUCCESS,
THEY ALSO HAD TO FORECAST THE WEATHER
ON A PLANET 3 BILLION MILES AWAY FROM EARTH.
Ingersoll: WE HAD TO FORECAST
WHERE TO POINT THE CAMERAS TWO WEEKS IN ADVANCE
WHERE THOSE INTERESTING FEATURES ARE GONNA BE,
AND WE SAID, "WELL, THEY'RE MOVING AROUND.
THEY'RE STORMS IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF NEPTUNE."
AND THIS WAS AUGUST OF 1989,
AND THERE WAS A BIG HURRICANE OFF THE COAST OF FLORIDA,
AND THE WEATHER FORECASTERS HERE SAY,
"WELL, 12 HOURS FROM NOW,
WE THINK IT'S GONNA VEER RIGHT,
OR WE THINK IT'S GONNA GO LEFT,
BUT WE'RE NOT SURE."
IT MAY BE STARTING TO TURN A LITTLE BIT MORE
TOWARDS THE NORTHWEST OR WEST-NORTHWEST.
AND MEANWHILE, WE WERE CONFIDENTLY
ISSUING WEATHER FORECASTS
FOR NEPTUNE TWO WEEKS IN ADVANCE
AND TELLING THE ENGINEERS,
"OKAY, TWO WEEKS FROM NOW,
POINT YOUR CAMERA THERE AND THERE'LL BE A STORM THERE."
AND WE WERE RIGHT!
IT WAS GLORIOUS! [ LAUGHS ]
Narrator: THE FLY BY WAS APPROACHING.
WOULD THE SOFTWARE REWRITES AND RUNNING REPAIRS HOLD TOGETHER
TO GIVE HUMANITY ITS ONLY CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH NEPTUNE?
THERE WAS NOTHING MORE TO DO BUT WAIT AND HOPE.
AFTER 12 YEARS OF FLIGHT AND DECADES OF ANTICIPATION,
THE GIANT BLUE PLANET BEGAN TO LOOM IN VOYAGER 2'S LENSES.
ON AUGUST 25th, 1989,
THE SPACECRAFT PASSED WITHIN 3,000 MILES
OF NEPTUNE'S NORTH POLE.
THE CRAFT HAD SURVIVED THE 3-BILLION-MILE JOURNEY
TO THE EDGE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
[ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ]
THE FINAL ENCOUNTER, I WAS ABLE TO WITNESS HERE AT JPL
WITH MY YOUNGEST SON,
AND WE WATCHED WITH FASCINATION
AS THE PICTURES OF NEPTUNE UNFOLDED.
SUDDENLY, THINGS THAT NO ONE HAD IMAGINED WERE THERE.
HERE WAS A PLANET THAT WAS VIBRANT WITH LIFE.
IT HAD ITS OWN GREAT SPOT,
THE DARK SPOT IN THIS CASE,
WHITE CLOUDS FLOATING IN ITS ATMOSPHERE,
AND THESE THINGS UNFOLDED BEFORE OUR VERY EYES,
AND WHAT A WONDERFUL SURPRISE.
NEPTUNE, FOR ME, WAS A GREAT SURPRISE.
Porco: THERE WAS SOMETHING STRANGE AND EERIE ABOUT NEPTUNE,
BECAUSE HERE, THE LAST PLANET, YOU KNOW, THE SENTINEL
AT THE OUTER EDGE OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM LOOKS LIKE EARTH
WITH ITS BEAUTIFUL, DEEP-BLUE COLOR
AND ITS WHITE CLOUDS FLOATING IN THE ATMOSPHERE.
WE WERE BACK WITH A REALLY EXCITING PLANET
AGAIN AT NEPTUNE.
THERE WERE FAST-MOVING CLOUDS,
CLOUDS THAT MOVED IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS,
SOME OF THEM ALMOST AT SONIC SPEEDS.
THE COMPLEXITY OF THE PLANET'S ATMOSPHERE
WAS FAR BEYOND OUR EXPECTATIONS.
Narrator: VOYAGER 2 HAD SURVIVED
TO REACH THE EXTREMES OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
IT HAD REVEALED NOT JUST THE PLANETS THEMSELVES,
BUT WHOLE SYSTEMS OF RINGS AND MOONS
UNLIKE ANYTHING WE'D IMAGINED.
SUZANNE DODD CAPTURED A FINAL IMAGE FROM THE HISTORIC FLIGHT.
ONE OF THE IMAGES I TOOK AND HELPED DESIGN
WAS THE ONE WHERE YOU HAVE --
IT'S ACTUALLY ONE TAKEN WHEN YOU'RE GOING AWAY.
YOU HAVE THE CRESCENT OF NEPTUNE,
AND THEN YOU HAVE THE CRESCENT OF NEPTUNE'S MOON, TRITON,
IN THE BACKGROUND, AND YOU'RE TAKING THAT
AS THE SPACECRAFT IS TRAVELING OUT OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
YOU SAY, "THAT'S THE LAST IMAGE
THAT VOYAGER 2 IS GONNA TAKE,
AND THAT'S THE LAST IMAGE THAT SPACECRAFT'S GONNA REMEMBER
OF THOSE PLANETS.
Narrator: VOYAGER 2 DELIVERED ITS FINAL IMAGES IN 1989,
MORE DATA ON THE OUTER PLANETS
HAD BEEN COLLECTED BY THE TWO VOYAGER SPACECRAFTS
THAN IN THE REST OF HUMAN HISTORY.
BUT LET'S NOT FORGET VOYAGER 1,
HEADING OUT OF THE PLANE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
ALTHOUGH IT HADN'T BEEN ABLE
TO MAKE ANY MORE ENCOUNTERS WITH PLANETS,
THERE WAS ONE LAST, SPECIAL TASK ITS MAKERS ASKED OF IT.
BECAUSE IT WAS HIGH ABOVE THE SOLAR SYSTEM
RATHER IN ITS PLANE,
VOYAGER 1 HAD A VIEW OF ALL THE PLANETS
THAT ITS TWIN COULD NEVER HAVE.
CARL SAGAN AND CAROLYN PORCO BEGAN DISCUSSING AN IDEA.
VOYAGER WAS GONNA BE IN A LOCATION
THAT NO OTHER SPACECRAFT HAD BEEN BEFORE,
EQUIPPED WITH, YOU KNOW, SOPHISTICATED INSTRUMENTATION
SO THAT IT COULD TURN AROUND AND TAKE A PICTURE
OF ALL THE PLANETS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM,
AND I THOUGHT THAT THIS WOULD BE A RIVETING COLLECTION OF IMAGES.
YOU KNOW, A FIRST.
Narrator: SO ON VALENTINE'S DAY, 1990,
13 YEARS AFTER LEAVING EARTH,
VOYAGER 1 WAS ASKED TO TURN ITS CAMERAS BACK
TOWARDS THE PLANETS.
NOW, 3.7 BILLION MILES AWAY,
BY THE TIME VOYAGER'S PITIFULLY WEAK SIGNAL
REACHED THE DISHES ON EARTH,
IT WAS JUST A MILLIONTH OF A BILLIONTH OF A WATT OF POWER.
IT WAS THEN BOOSTED AND SENT ON TO PASADENA,
WHERE THE IMAGE WAS ASSEMBLED HERE
IN THE DEEP-SPACE CONTROL ROOM.
A UNIQUE FAMILY PORTRAIT --
THE ULTIMATE SNAPSHOT OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.
HERE IS THE MOSAIC TAKEN...
Narrator: FOR CARL SAGAN, THE SYMBOLIC VALUE
OF THE PHOTOGRAPH WAS A GIFT.
...THE PLANETS MOVE AROUND THE SUN, AND IN ANY GIVEN MOMENT...
Narrator: HE HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE TO PUBLICIZE IT AROUND THE WORLD.
THE PORTRAIT OF THE PLANETS HAS NOW BEEN TAKEN.
THIS LOOKS LIKE MORE THAN A DOT,
BUT IT IS, IN FACT, LESS THAN A PIXEL.
IN THIS COLOR PICTURE, YOU CAN SEE THAT IT IS SLIGHTLY BLUE,
AND THIS IS WHERE WE LIVE, ON A BLUE DOT.
WITH THIS FINAL HISTORIC IMAGE CAPTURED,
AND NOTHING MORE TO PHOTOGRAPH,
VOYAGER 1'S CAMERAS WERE TURNED OFF TO SAVE POWER.
[ BEEPING ]
Narrator: WITH OVER 35 YEARS ON MISSION,
THE VOYAGERS HURTLE AWAY FROM US OVER 10 MILES A SECOND.
THEIR CUTTING-EDGE, 1970s TECHNOLOGY KEEPS ON CHUGGING.
AND, REMARKABLY, THEY CONTINUE TO SEND BACK NEW INFORMATION
ABOUT THE SPACE THEY ARE NOW TRAVELING THROUGH,
11 BILLION MILES FROM EARTH.
[ INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER ]
EVEN TRAVELING AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT,
THEIR MESSAGES TAKE QUITE A WHILE TO GET HOME.
THE JOURNEY TIME NOW IS ABOUT 15 HOURS, ONE WAY,
FROM VOYAGER 1 BACK TO EARTH,
AND SO YOU SEND A SIGNAL UP,
AND THE NEXT DAY, YOU COME BACK, AND YOU HAVE SOME INDICATION
THAT THE SPACECRAFT HEARD THE SIGNAL AND RESPONDED.
[ INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER ]
Dodd: THERE ARE FIVE INSTRUMENTS
THAT ARE STILL OPERATING ON THE SPACECRAFT,
AND WE'RE STARTING TO SEE THE EVIDENCE NOW IN THE DATA
THAT WE ARE CROSSING INTO INTERSTELLAR SPACE.
WE'RE SEEING THINGS THAT WOULD LEAD US TO BELIEVE
THAT WE ARE ON THAT BOUNDARY.
Narrator: NOW OUR PLANETARY EXPLORERS
ARE CROSSING THIS BOUNDARY OF THE SUN'S INFLUENCE.
THEY'RE TRAVELING BEYOND THE LIMITS OF OUR SOLAR WIND
AND INTO THE GALAXY BEYOND.
IT'S THE FIRST TIME ANY OBJECT BUILT BY HUMANS
HAS ACHIEVED THIS -- A NEW CHAPTER
IN HUMAN EXPLORATION IS BEGINNING.
Dodd: WE HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO GET US ABOUT 10 MORE YEARS,
MAYBE OUT TO 2025, BUT WE WILL, OVER THE COURSE OF THOSE YEARS,
HAVE TO TURN OFF THINGS SO THAT WE CONTINUE
TO HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO RUN THE TRANSMITTER
TO SEND THE DATA BACK TO THE EARTH.
[ INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER ]
Ingersoll: THE FACT THAT VOYAGER'S STILL ALIVE,
AND THERE'S STILL A SIGNAL FROM IT,
AND ITS ABOUT TO LEAVE THE SOLAR SYSTEM --
I THINK THAT'S WONDERFUL, THAT IT HASN'T JUST GIVEN UP
OR THAT WE HAVEN'T GIVEN UP ON IT.
IT'S A TRIBUTE TO WHAT VOYAGER MEANS TO US,
THAT WE'VE KEPT IT GOING.
Stone: REALLY, IT'S WONDERFUL AS A SCIENTIST
TO BE STILL EXPLORING,
STILL GOING SOMEWHERE NO SPACECRAFT HAS BEEN BEFORE.
Narrator: OVER 35 YEARS ENGAGED IN ONE MISSION
HAS SEEN THE TEAM AT JPL AGE,
EVENTS IN THEIR LIVES
RUNNING PARALLEL TO THE VOYAGERS' ENCOUNTERS.
Stone: WHEN I STARTED ON VOYAGER, MY TWO DAUGHTERS WERE YOUNG,
BY THE TIME THEY WERE IN COLLEGE,
WE WERE ALREADY HAD PASSED SATURN.
WE WERE ON OUR WAY TO URANUS.
THEY GOT MARRIED AND THE VOYAGER JUST KEPT GOING.
WE HAD GRANDCHILDREN AND VOYAGER JUST KEPT GOING,
AND SO NOW OUR GRANDCHILDREN ARE AWARE
OF WHAT'S HAPPENING TO VOYAGER JUST LIKE OUR CHILDREN WERE.
Narrator: LONG AFTER THEIR POWER HAS GONE,
THE VOYAGERS WILL CONTINUE TO RUSH AWAY FROM US,
1.5 TONS OF 1970s ENGINEERING,
MONUMENTS TO HUMAN ENDEAVOR AND EXPLORATION
HEADING OUT TOWARDS THE STARS.
I BELIEVE THE NEXT ENCOUNTER
WITH THE CLOSEST STAR
IS SOMETHING LIKE 40,000 YEARS FROM NOW.
Narrator: THE TWO GOLDEN DISKS ARE STILL ATTACHED
TO THE SIDES OF EACH SPACECRAFT,
AND IN THE BENIGN, EMPTY ENVIRONMENT OF DEEP SPACE,
THEY WILL OUTLIVE THE PYRAMIDS.
THEY'RE LIKELY TO OUTLIVE US,
AND PERHAPS EVEN THE EARTH ITSELF --
THE ONLY RECORD OF OUR EXISTENCE.
Boy: HELLO FROM THE CHILDREN OF PLANET EARTH.
YET DESPITE THE AMBITION, GIVEN THE VASTNESS OF SPACE,
IT'S ALMOST INCONCEIVABLE
THAT THESE TWO TINY SPACECRAFT
WILL EVER BE INTERCEPTED BY OTHER BEINGS.
IT'S A LITTLE BIT LIKE THROWING A BOTTLE
INTO THE COSMIC OCEAN.
Narrator: BUT SAGAN WAS CLEVER ENOUGH TO REALIZE THIS.
HE KNEW THAT IT WASN'T WHAT THE GOLDEN RECORD
SAID TO OTHER CIVILIZATIONS THAT MATTERED,
MORE SIGNIFICANT WAS WHAT IT SAID TO OUR OWN.
Sagan: YOU MIGHT THINK THAT IT IS A HOPELESSLY QUIXOTIC PROJECT
TO LAUNCH THIS MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
INTO INTERSTELLAR SPACE AND EXPECT ANYONE WILL FIND IT,
BUT THERE ARE REALLY TWO KINDS OF RECIPIENTS OF THE MESSAGE
ON THE VOYAGER RECORDS.
ONE IS THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL AUDIENCE,
THE OTHER AUDIENCE IS DOWN HERE ON EARTH.
HERE IS A MOMENT WHEN WE HAVE TO SUDDENLY THINK,
WHAT IS THERE ABOUT OUR CULTURE
THAT WE WOULD WANT OTHERS TO KNOW ABOUT?
THAT WE WOULD BE PROUD OF.
THE RECORD SHOULD REPRESENT THE HUMAN SPECIES
AS AN ENTIRETY.
THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN SPECIES SEEN DOWN HERE
IS A FACT THAT IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE HUMAN FUTURE.