Dr. Nadia Drake has discovered both her dads Golden Record pulsar map, and the sketches for the Arecibo message
Posted by jpluimers on 2025/02/07
Ain’t history extra lovely when someone discovers the original drawings of what her dad had sent to space?
Back in the 1970s, Frank Drake did two memorable things: he helped design the Pioneer plaque (sent to space in 1972 on Pioneer 11) containing among other things pulsar map, and later helped design the 1977 Voyager Golden Record (sent to space in 1977 on both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2) again containing the pulsar map. In between, he helped designed Arecibo message broadcasted to space in 1974.
And guess what: today is the 50th anniversary of that message being broadcasted.
Almost 10 years ago, in 2016 his daughter Nadia Drake found back the original drawing of the pulsar map:
- [Wayback/Archive] Dr. Nadia Drake on X: “Amused to see Papa D’s pulsar map used as a basis for this killer @PopUpMag illustration.
goldenstaterecord.com“
- [WaybackSave/Archive] Dr. Nadia Drake on X: “The original pulsar map, which eventually flew on Pioneer & Voyager, lives unceremoniously in an old tomato box.”
This year, [WaybackSave/Archive] Dr. Nadia Drake on X: “About a decade ago, I found the original draft of Papa D’s pulsar map — tucked into a box in the closet. This past weekend, guess what else showed up?”
This is the draft of the Arecibo message broadcasted in 1974 through the Arecibo Telescope which regrettably collapsed in December 2020.
Further reading:
- [Wayback/Archive] 50 Years Ago NASA Sent a Map Into Space to Help Aliens Find Earth—Now They’ve Got An Awesome Update
- [Wayback/Archive] How a NASA Spacecraft May Help Aliens Find Earth
- [Wayback/Archive] The Pulsar Map – a map of our planet’s location in the universe : MapPorn
Reply-tweets of interest:
- [WaybackSave/Archive] J.L. Galache on X: “.@nadiamdrake @AstroKatie At least there are copies in better places.”
- [Wayback/Archive] L MILLETTE on X: “@nadiamdrake
www.pbs.org/the-farthest/science/pulsar-mapSadly the video is missing ??? 😶 But it tell a bit of the story🥂”
- [WaybackSave/Archive] Prof. Abel Méndez 🔭 🔬 on X: “@nadiamdrake Relevant
phl.upr.edu/message“
[Wayback/Archive] PHL @ UPR Arecibo – The Last Arecibo Message
The Planetary Habitability Laboratory (PHL) will commemorate next November 2024 the 50th anniversary of the Arecibo Message with the event “The Last Arecibo Message” — a celebration of the legacy of the Arecibo Observatory and a look toward the future of interstellar communication.
- [WaybackSave/Archive] MadB on X: “@nadiamdrake Fantastic piece of history on millimetric paper. You have interesting closets 😂 I would have that evaluated. You could frame it, digitize & sell copies. The Sky really is the limit.”
[Wayback/Archive] It’s the 25th anniversary of Earth’s first attempt to phone E.T. | Cornell Chronicle
- [WaybackSave/Archive] ASYNSIS on X: “@nadiamdrake Reminds me of the Chilbolton crop circle ⭕️ “reply”.”
This was the “Chilbolton Code formation”, see Arecibo message: Arecibo Answer crop circle hoax – Wikipedia.
- [Wayback/Archive] Christopher on X: “@nadiamdrake For additional context:”
[Wayback/Archive] Message that was Broadcast into Space from the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico (1974) – Unidentified Phenomena
- [WaybackSave/Archive] Sandrine Campese on X: “@nadiamdrake A valuable document! I have just studied the Arecibo message by reading the book “Murmurs of Earth”. Frank Drake’s explanations are fascinating.”
The book is at the Internet Archive multiples, but – regrettably – is unavailable for borrowing due to legal issues.
- [WaybackSave/Archive] Dr. Gerard van Belle on X: “@nadiamdrake”
--jeroen
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
Leave a comment