The twin probes just launched toward Mars have an Easter egg on board
13 comments
·November 15, 2025clickety_clack
hidroto
To an archeologist both artifacts are worth having, just look at Pompeii the frescoes tell you alot but the graffiti on the sides of the buildings tells you something as well.
inglor_cz
I think the implication is that within that time period which separates Voyagers from today, we have become distrustful or ashamed of the higher parts of the culture, and that such a dysbalanced situation is fairly new, with hard-to-predict consequences.
qlm
Sounds like reactionary nonsense to me. It's just some names. It's not indicative of the debasement of society.
nozzlegear
Surely the people at NASA who are launching probes aren't the ones who've become distrustful or ashamed of higher culture.
BigTTYGothGF
These things are only ("only"!) going to Mars, anybody getting that close to us and wanting to know more can go right to the source.
kej
Not that it changes your point, but the plaques were on the Pioneer probes; Voyager had the golden record.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_plaque
hdgvhicv
Those voyager plaques will last millions, even billions of years.
The records might survive to the end of time if they are lucky and get flung into intergalactic space post andromeda collision.
jdpage
This strikes me as a rather uncharitable view. I think it's okay for people to be proud of their work on a difficult project, and want to have their names on it.
YouAreMammon
They just don't make em like they used to!
yells at cloud
When they sent the voyagers out, they had plaques that represented the species, with an attempt at universally communicating who we are. These ones have the equivalent of spray painted tags, or a name scratched into a desk: “John woz ere”. Different times.