Q 01/05

How many Golden Records were sent into space, and where?

A) One, on the first probe only

B) Four, two on each probe

C) Two, one on each 1977 probe

D) Three, including a spare on Pioneer 11

Answer · why

C) Two, one on each 1977 probe

They are identical phonograph records launched in 1977, intended as a time capsule for any intelligent finder.

Q 02/05

Which astronomer chaired the committee that selected the contents of the record?

A) Carl Sagan

B) Frank Drake

C) Timothy Ferris

D) Jon Lomberg

Answer · why

A) Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan of Cornell University chaired the selection committee; he had co-designed NASA's earlier interstellar plaque, and his team assembled the re...

Q 03/05

Whose idea was it to put a message about humanity aboard the Voyagers?

A) Astronomer Carl Sagan

B) President Jimmy Carter

C) UN chief Kurt Waldheim

D) Project manager John Casani

Answer · why

D) Project manager John Casani

John Casani, Voyager's project manager at JPL, proposed in late 1976 that the probes carry a message for any finder, and asked a Cornell-led committee...

Q 04/05

Why did Sagan's team choose a metal phonograph record over the obvious alternative?

A) It was far cheaper to make

B) It would outlast tape in space

C) NASA already had one spare

D) Tape reels were too heavy

Answer · why

B) It would outlast tape in space

The team judged a metal phonograph record would outlast magnetic tape, which degrades in space over long spans; a grooved disc could also carry encode...

Q 05/05

How many images are encoded on the record?

A) 55

B) 116

C) 72

D) 98

Answer · why

B) 116

There are 116 images, beginning with a calibration circle and continuing through diagrams of DNA, the Solar System and human anatomy to photographs of...