CARL SAGAN'S PIONEER 10 / 11 PLAQUE

Plaque made from Metal with a brief explanation engraved at the bottom of the plaque

 Faithful replica of the plaque affixed to the Pioneer 10 & 11 space probes launched in 1972 & 73. The plaque was designed by Dr.Carl Sagan as a galactic "message in a bottle", which showed any inhabitants of other star systems who may come upon it when, from where and by what type of beings the craft had been launched.

• The radiating lines represent the positions of 14 pulsars to indicate our sun as the home star of the launching civilisation.
• The "I" symbols by the lines are binary numbers representing the frequencies of these pulsars at the time of lauch relative to that of the hydrogen atom shown at the upper left with a "I" unity symbol.
• The hydrogen atom is thus used as a universal clock, the regular decrease in the frequencies of the pulsars will enable others to determine the time elapsed since launch.
• The hydrogen atom is also used as a yardstick for sizing the human figures. The hydrogen wavelength, approx 8 inches, multiplied by the binary number representing "8" shown next to the woman gives her height at 64 inches. The figures represent the kind of creatures (mankind) that created Pioneer.
• The man's hand is raised in a gesture of goodwill. The two figures were deliberately not shown holding hands as this could be interpreted as one figure with two heads.
• Across the bottom of the plaque are the planets, ranging outward from the sun, with the spacecraft's trajectory arcing away from the earth, passing Mars and Swinging by Jupiter.

The plaque is 229 x 165mm. Material is Gold aluminium engraving material, similar in appearance to the original.