As you are reading this, the Pioneer 10 and 11 space probes have lost all power and are silently flying in the darkness of space. NASA lost contact with Pioneer 10 in 2003 and Pioneer 11 in 1995. Odds are that they will continue their lonely journey into eternity. However, there is a very slim, but not impossible chance that a intelligent civilization living on a different planet will detect these probes.
If this amazing event were to happen, these beings will find a golden plaque on each probe. On these gold-plated aluminum plaques are a depiction of Earth’s location in the galaxy, a diagram of the hydrogen atom, a map of the Pioneer’s journey through the solar system, and a picture of a man and woman. 
Obviously this is a true shot in the dark, but I just love this cosmic “message in a bottle”. One question that comes to mind is: “would an intelligent alien be able to understand the plaque?”
Stay tuned for upcoming articles that take a tour of the plaque. Each element of the plaque is a science lesson in itself. For example, the use of the arrow to describe the gravity slingshot around Jupiter was criticized because an arrow is symbol that stems from the hunter-gather aspects of past (and present in some cases) human civilization. If our intelligent “neighbors” developed their civilization under water, the arrow could be totally meaningless.
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Posted by Tim Roth, author of the political blog Think Anew and Act Anew
Source:
“Pioneer plaque”, Wikipedia entry
