NASA Vetoed Nude Voyager Photo, Replacing It With a 12-Inch Golden Record Silhouette
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · May 25
NASA Vetoed Nude Voyager Photo, Replacing It With a 12-Inch Golden Record Silhouette
1 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · May 25
Summary
Five years after backlash over the Pioneer plaque, NASA blocked Carl Sagan’s team from putting a nude photograph of a man and pregnant woman on the Voyager Golden Record.
The veto followed newspaper censorship of Pioneer’s 1972 plaque, whose line drawing of two nude humans was altered in print by removing genitals and nipples.
Voyager’s team substituted a black silhouette of the same couple, with a visible fetus inside the woman’s outline to preserve the biological point without explicit anatomy.
One nude image still survived on the record: Jon Lomberg’s vertebrate-evolution diagram, which NASA approved in a scientific context rather than as a photograph.
The 12-inch gold-plated record launched on Voyager 1 and 2 in 1977; Voyager 1 is now nearing 26 billion kilometers from Earth.
If we sent a new message to aliens today, what single image would best represent all of humanity?
Will Voyager's Golden Record be humanity's final message or just a forgotten piece of space junk?
Is sending messages to aliens a hopeful invitation or a reckless gamble for humanity's survival?
From Pioneer Plaques to the Voyager Golden Record: Navigating Science, Culture, and Controversy in Interstellar Communication
Overview
The Voyager Golden Record, launched aboard Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 in 1977, was created by Carl Sagan and his team as a time capsule and cosmic greeting to potential intelligent life. Carefully selected images, sounds, music, and greetings were included to portray Earth's diversity and humanity's essence. This ambitious project continues to inspire reflection on what it means to be human and the possibility of life beyond Earth. Its legacy has influenced both culture and future interstellar messaging, encouraging ongoing discussions about how humanity represents itself to the universe.