NASA unveils ‘message in a bottle’ for aliens to be sent to frigid Jupiter
NASA plans to send a cryptic human message to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.
Last year, NASA announced a campaign called Message in a Bottle, which will be sent to Jupiter’s planetary system via its Europa Clipper spacecraft.
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Message in a Bottle asked the general public to sign their names – now more than 2.6 million names are etched into a microchip.
The chip, about the size of a dime, was created by engineers at the Microdevices Laboratory of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
In addition to the microchip, NASA is sending a 7-by-9-inch metal commemorative plaque with graphic elements on both sides.
In the heart of the plate there is an engraving of the poem In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europewritten by American poet laureate Ada Limón.
“The contents and design of Europa Clipper’s vault slab are swimmingly significant,” said Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“The record combines the best that humanity has to offer in the entire universe: science, technology, education, art and math,” Glaze added.
“The message of connection through water, essential to all forms of life as we know it, perfectly illustrates Earth’s bond with this mysterious ocean world we wish to explore.”
EUROPE CLIPPER MISSION
The message is expected to fly aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft sometime in October 2024.
Europa Clipper will investigate the Galilean moon that orbits Jupiter every 83 hours.
The Clipper is about the size of an SUV and is expected to reach Europe around March 7, 2031.
The mission, which has set NASA back $4.25 billion, will explore Europa’s terrain – from the salinity of the ocean to the chemical composition of the ice crust.
The search for organic compounds such as sulfates and carbonates is also on the agenda of the orbiter, which will fly repeatedly past the icy moon.
“Clipper will conduct detailed explorations of Jupiter’s moon Europa and investigate whether the icy moon could have conditions suitable for life,” NASA wrote about its mission website.
NASA believes Europa is an ideal candidate for hosting extraterrestrial life because the country possesses the “ingredients essential for life: water, chemistry and energy.”
The researchers predict that beneath Europe’s surface lies a salty ocean that contains more water “than the Earth’s oceans combined.”
Project scientist Robert Pappalardo of NASA’s JBL in Southern California said, “It’s been a decades-long journey and we can’t wait to see what Europa Clipper shows us in this water world.”