Carl Sagan, a respected astronomer and science communicator, once recorded a message for future astronauts who set foot on Mars.
Sagan was a strong advocate for Mars exploration. Co-founder of The Planetary Society, he believes we should fly to Mars to study it as an analog for our planet, to look for potential indications of life, and just for the thrill of exploring Mars.
Sagan recorded a message for future Mars astronauts shortly before his death from pneumonia on December 20, 1996.
“I am Carl Sagan. This is a location where I frequently work in Ithaca, New York, near Cornell University. Maybe you can hear, in the distance, a 200-foot [60-meter] waterfall nearby, which is probably – I would imagine – a rare on Mars, even in these days of advanced technology,” Sagan adds in the recording.
“Science and science fiction have performed a kind of dance during the previous century, notably about Mars. When scientists make a discovery, it inspires science fiction writers to write about it, and a slew of young people read the science fiction and are excited and inspired to become scientists to learn more about Mars, which they do, feeding back into the next generation of science fiction and science. And that sequence has played an important part in our current ability to travel to Mars.
It was undoubtedly a significant element in the life of Robert Goddard, the American rocketry pioneer who, more than anyone else, opened the route for our current ability to travel to Mars. And it undoubtedly contributed to my scientific progress.”
“I’m not sure why you’re on Mars. Perhaps you’re there because we’ve realized we need to carefully shift minor asteroids around to avoid one reaching the Earth with disastrous repercussions, and while we’re up in near-Earth space, Mars is only a hop, skip, and a jump away.”
“Or, perhaps we’re on Mars because we know that if there are human settlements on multiple worlds, the chances of our being extinct due to a disaster on one of them are substantially lower. Or perhaps we’re on Mars because of the incredible science that can be done there, and the gates to the wonder world are opening in our time. Or perhaps we’re on Mars because nature has instilled in us a strong nomadic instinct. We are, after all, descended from hunter-gatherers, and we have spent 99.9 percent of our time on Earth wandering. The next destination is Mars. But, whatever reason you’re on Mars, I’m delighted you’re there. And I wish I were with you.
The recording, due to The Planetary Society, which he co-founded, was sent to Mars and arrived on May 25, 2008, after riding aboard NASA’s Phoenix lander. It remains on the surface of an archival silica-glass mini-DVD, which the society hopes will persist for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
