Original subtitles

Narrator: FAR ABOVE THE EARTH, TWO TINY SPACECRAFT

ARE RAISING THE SPIRIT OF EXPLORATION

TO EXTRAORDINARY LEVELS.

FOR THREE AND A HALF DECADES, THEY'VE BEEN INVESTIGATING

THE OUTER REACHES OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.

THEY ARE THE VOYAGERS.

VOYAGER WAS THE RIGHT SPACECRAFT AT THE RIGHT TIME.

WHEN A HUGE AMOUNT OF STUFF WAS WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED

AND VOYAGER WAS CAPABLE OF DISCOVERING IT.

VOYAGER WAS THE SEMINAL MISSION OF THE PAST 50 YEARS.

IT REPRESENTS THE GOLDEN AGE OF SPACE EXPLORATION.

Narrator: THE VOYAGER JOURNEYS HAVE BEEN DRIVEN

BY REMARKABLE HUMAN ENDEAVOR AND ACHIEVEMENT.

THEY'VE BEEN A WINDOW INTO WORLDS

ALMOST BEYOND IMAGINATION.

AND THEY HAVE HELPED UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.

EACH SPACECRAFT CARRIES A GOLDEN DISK.

IT HOLDS A SNAPSHOT OF HUMANITY,

A DISPATCH TO THE STARS.

HELLO FROM THE CHILDREN OF PLANET EARTH.

AND NOW THE VOYAGER MISSION

IS ABOUT TO CROSS THE FINAL FRONTIER.

THEY'RE THE FIRST OBJECTS BUILT BY HUMANS EVER

TO PASS BEYOND THE SOLAR SYSTEM

AND INTO THE GALAXY BEYOND.

-- Captions by VITAC -- www.vitac.com

CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

[ FLEETWOOD MAC'S "NEVER GOING BACK AGAIN" PLAYING ]

¶ SHE BROKE DOWN AND LET ME IN ¶

Narrator: IT'S 1977,

AND FLEETWOOD MAC HAVE JUST RELEASED "RUMOURS".

THE WORLD FEELS LIKE A DIFFERENT PLACE.

...OF THE UNITED STATES.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

JIMMY CARTER IS THE NEW AMERICAN PRESIDENT,

AND ELVIS HAS JUST DIED.

THE CAUSE OF DEATH IS CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIA.

¶ BEEN DOWN ONE TIME ¶

Narrator: A NEW COMPANY CALLED APPLE COMPUTERS HAS JUST BEEN FOUNDED.

¶ I WAS STROLLING ON THE MOON ONE DAY ¶

Narrator: AND IT'S NOT BEEN LONG

SINCE THE FINAL APOLLO MISSION LANDED ON THE MOON.

THE PUBLIC HAS GONE CRAZY FOR FILMS LIKE "STAR WARS"

AND "CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND".

AND THIS COMBINATION OF BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY

AND EXCITING SCIENCE FICTION

HAS HELPED TO INSPIRE A SURPRISING PROJECT.

IN AUGUST, 1977, NASA BEGAN

ONE OF THE GREATEST ADVENTURES IN THE HISTORY OF SPACE FLIGHT.

Man: 3...2...1...0.

Narrator: HERE WERE TWO UNMANNED SPACE PROBES

ATTEMPTING SOMETHING

STRAIGHT OUT OF AN ARTHUR C. CLARKE STORY.

THEIR MISSION -- TO EXPLORE THE OUTER PLANETS

OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM --

JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS, AND NEPTUNE.

THEIR FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH JUPITER

WOULD BE 2.5 BILLION MILES AWAY.

THE TWO SPACECRAFT WERE NOW HEADING ON THEIR EPIC JOURNEY,

BUT THE STORY OF THE VOYAGER MISSION

BEGAN ALMOST 20 YEARS EARLIER.

THE FIRST OBJECT LAUNCHED INTO ORBIT

WAS SPUTNIK I.

[ STEADY BEEPING ]

AND FROM THEN ON, SPACE SCIENTISTS BECAME OBSESSED

WITH JOURNEYING EVER FURTHER FROM EARTH,

EXPLORING THE FAR REACHES OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.

YET NO SPACECRAFT COULD GET MUCH FURTHER THAN MARS,

AND EVEN THAT WAS A STRUGGLE.

IN 1961, IN CALIFORNIA,

ONE MAN THOUGHT HE MIGHT KNOW

HOW TO BRING THESE PLANETS INTO REACH.

MICHAEL MINOVITCH WAS A BRILLIANT MATH GRADUATE.

Minovitch: MY FATHER TAUGHT ME HOW TO DO ARITHMETIC WHEN I WAS

LIKE IN THE FOURTH OR FIFTH GRADE,

AND THEN I LEARNED THE LANGUAGE --

THE SECRET OF SCIENCE.

AND THE SECRET OF SCIENCE IS MATHEMATICS.

Narrator: AT THE AGE OF 25,

WHILE HE WAS STILL STUDYING FOR HIS PhD AT UCLA,

MINOVITCH CHALLENGED HIMSELF TO SOLVE

THE MOST DIFFICULT PROBLEM IN SPACE EXPLORATION...

...A SOLUTION TO THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM.

THE ABILITY TO PREDICT EXACTLY

HOW A SPACECRAFT PASSING A PLANET

WOULD HAVE ITS PATH AFFECTED WAS STILL BEYOND SCIENCE.

UNTIL, THAT IS, THE YOUNG MINOVITCH CAME ALONG.

IT WOULD'VE BEEN REGARDED AS AN IMPOSSIBILITY

PRIOR TO WHAT I DID IN 1961.

I WAS GIFTED, BEING AT A UNIVERSITY

THAT HAD THE 7090 COMPUTER, SO THAT WAS THE KEY.

Narrator: UCLA'S STATE-OF-THE-ART IBM COMPUTER

WAS THE FASTEST ON EARTH AT THE TIME,

AND MINOVITCH PUT IT TO GOOD USE.

HE BEGAN CALCULATING THOUSANDS OF ALTERNATIVE DIRECTIONS

IN SPEEDS IN AN ATTEMPT TO HOME IN ON THE SOLUTION.

IT WAS A LONG SHOT NOT ONLY FOR THE YOUNG STUDENT,

BUT ALSO FOR THE UNIVERSITY.

WORKING ON A 7090 WAS COSTING THE UNIVERSITY $1,000 AN HOUR,

SO THEY WERE DUMPING BUSHELS OF MONEY

INTO A FANTASTIC BELIEF. AND WHAT WAS THE BELIEF?

BELIEF THAT A PERSON THAT HADN'T EVEN GOT HIS PhD

SOLVED THE PROBLEM THAT ALL THE MOST ADVANCED MATHEMATICIANS

IN HISTORY COULDN'T SOLVE.

THAT MEANT PRESSURE ON ME.

AND SO, I THOUGHT TO MYSELF, HOW COULD I --

I CAN'T LIVE WITH MYSELF, GIVEN THIS GIFT,

KNOWING THAT THERE'S A VERY STRONG POSSIBILITY

THAT MY TRAJECTORIES WERE NOT CORRECT.

Narrator: MINOVITCH WENT TO THE PEOPLE

WITH THE MOST ACCURATE DATA

ON THE SOLAR SYSTEM AT THE TIME --

NASA'S JET PROPULSION LABORATORY IN PASADENA.

THEY WOULD DECIDE IF HE'D SOLVED THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM

OR JUST WASTED A LOT OF THE UNIVERSITY'S MONEY.

THEY RAN THE TESTS

ABOUT FOUR OR FIVE DIFFERENT TRAJECTORY TYPES,

DIFFERENT ENCOUNTERS,

AND FOUND EVERY SINGLE ONE CONVERGED TO THE EXACT SOLUTION.

Narrator: IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL MOMENT IN MATHEMATICS.

BY SOLVING THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM,

MINOVITCH HAD DISCOVERED A WAY TO USE GRAVITY

TO PROPEL A SPACECRAFT FURTHER AND FASTER THAN EVER BEFORE.

AND WHAT MINOVITCH REALIZED WAS,

AS A SPACECRAFT APPROACHES THE PLANET,

IT GETS PULLED IN BY ITS GRAVITY,

AND AS LONG AS IT DOESN'T CRASH INTO THE PLANET,

BY USING THE SLINGSHOT TECHNIQUE,

MINOVITCH HAD OPENED A GATEWAY TO THE OUTER PLANETS,

AT LEAST THEORETICALLY.

HE IDENTIFIED HUNDREDS

OF POSSIBLE MISSIONS TO THE PLANETS,

METICULOUSLY DRAWING THEM UP IN HIS NOTEBOOKS.

THE CONCEPT THAT I INVENTED,

AND I CAN SHOW YOU THE PRINTOUT.

IF YOU LOOK HERE, YOU'LL SEE THERE WAS NO LIMIT.

I COULD HAVE A SEQUENCE

THAT WAS 100 PLANETS LONG, NONSTOP --

PLANET TO PLANET TO PLANET.

LAUNCH FROM EARTH, AND THEN YOU COME TO JUPITER.

NOW JUPITER, YOU GET A NICE, BIG BOUNCE,

AND YOU USE THAT TO PROPEL YOURSELF TO SATURN,

AND THEN SATURN IS A PRETTY DARN BIG PLANET,

AND THAT'LL CATAPULT YOU OUT TO PLUTO.

THIS CONCEPT COULD BE USED

TO EXPLORE THE WHOLE SOLAR SYSTEM

WITH ONE LAUNCH VEHICLE AT ONE TIME,

WITHOUT ANY ROCKET PROPULSION AT ALL.

Narrator: AT NASA'S JPL,

ANOTHER STUDENT WAS HIRED TO CRUNCH NUMBERS

FOR A MISSION TO THE OUTER PLANETS.

Flandro: OBVIOUSLY, THE FIRST THING IS TO DETERMINE

WHEN THE PLANETS ARE GOING TO BE

IN POSITIONS WHERE WE COULD REACH THEM.

SO, I DREW VERY CAREFUL MAPS OF WHERE THE PLANETS WOULD BE,

AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DRAWINGS

WAS ONE IN WHICH I DREW THE POSITIONS OF THE PLANETS

VERSUS THE DATE.

AND THE THING THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION IMMEDIATELY

WAS THAT THE LINES FOR JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS,

AND NEPTUNE ALL CROSSED IN ABOUT THE 1975-'76 TIME PERIOD.

IN OTHER WORDS, THOSE FOUR MAJOR PLANETS

WERE ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE SUN

AND IN THE SAME GENERAL POSITION

AT THE SAME TIME,

SO IT GAVE ME THE IDEA IMMEDIATELY

THAT WE COULD DO ALL OF THOSE PLANETS

WITH ONE FLIGHT.

Narrator: THIS NARROW WINDOW

TO SLINGSHOT FROM ONE PLANET STRAIGHT TO THE NEXT

WOULD NOT OPEN AGAIN FOR ANOTHER 176 YEARS.

IT WAS TOO GOOD AN OPPORTUNITY TO MISS.

AND SO WAS BORN THE IDEA OF A GRAND TOUR,

THE MOST AMBITIOUS SPACE MISSION

OF ITS TIME.

IT WOULD SEND TWO IDENTICAL SPACE PROBES

TO ALL FOUR OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM'S OUTER PLANETS

IN ONE RELATIVELY SHORT FLIGHT.

THESE ENCOUNTERS PROMISED SPECTACULAR VIEWS

OF THESE DISTANT WORLDS,

PLANETS WE ONLY KNEW AS BLURRY OBJECTS THROUGH TELESCOPES.

THE HALF-BILLION MILES TO JUPITER

WOULD TAKE TWO YEARS, THEN ANOTHER TWO YEARS TO SATURN.

FIVE MORE TO URANUS,

AND A FINAL THREE TO REACH NEPTUNE.

FOR THESE JOURNEYS TO BE SUCCESSFUL,

IT MEANT THE VOYAGER SPACE PROBES

WOULD NEED TO FUNCTION FOR AT LEAST 12 YEARS,

YET NASA HAD NEVER BUILT A SPACECRAFT GUARANTEED

TO LAST LONGER THAN A FEW MONTHS.

Casani: THE ISSUE IS THE TIME.

IT TAKES TIME TO COVER THAT DISTANCE.

YOU'RE GOING A LONG WAYS, AND THAT TAKES TIME,

AND THE TIME IS CAN YOU MAKE ALL THESE MACHINES

OPERATE WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION

OR WITHOUT ADJUSTMENT?

WELL, I MEAN,

AT THAT POINT IN TIME,

THAT WAS A MIND-BLOWING THOUGHT --

OF HOW YOU BUILD A SPACECRAFT THAT CAN SURVIVE FAILURES

AND STILL KEEP ON CHUGGING.

Narrator: FIVE YEARS OF TESTING AND REDESIGNING FOLLOWED,

AS NASA'S ENGINEERS GRAPPLED WITH THE TASK

OF BUILDING A SPACECRAFT CAPABLE OF THE JOB.

AND THEY NEEDED TO DO IT BEFORE 1977,

WHEN THE LAUNCH WINDOW FOR THIS GRAND TOUR

WOULD CLOSE AT LEAST FOR ANOTHER 176 YEARS.

Casani: THE THING THAT WAS SCARY WAS

THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE BASED ON A LOT OF NEW TECHNOLOGY,

SO IT WAS A TECHNOLOGICAL LEAP.

WE THOUGHT WE COULD DO IT.

NOBODY ELSE DID, YOU KNOW?

Narrator: THEY'D CRACKED THE MATHEMATICS.

THEY WERE CONFIDENT TACKLING THE TECHNOLOGY.

BUT THERE WAS ONE MORE THING THEY NEEDED --

MONEY.

NASA STILL LACKED THE FUNDING

TO SUPPORT THE MISSION BEYOND SATURN.

TO ENSURE FURTHER FUNDING,

THE PUBLIC AND CONGRESS

WOULD NEED REGULAR REMINDERS OF THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS.

THE VOYAGERS NEEDED A VOICE,

SOMEONE WHO COULD TURN THEIR SAGA

OF CELESTIAL EXPLORATION

INTO SOMETHING THAT ALL AMERICANS COULD SHARE.

THEY TURNED TO A YOUNG MEMBER OF THE VOYAGER TEAM

WITH A PASSION FOR STORYTELLING.

HIS NAME WAS CARL SAGAN.

WOULDN'T IT BE LOVELY TO MAKE CONTACT

WITH ANOTHER CIVILIZATION

THAT HAS ARISEN AND EVOLVED INDEPENDENTLY?

Narrator: AWARE THAT THE VOYAGERS WOULD HEAD AWAY FROM US FOREVER,

SAGAN PROPOSED AN EXTRAORDINARY IDEA.

ONBOARD EACH SPACECRAFT,

HE SUGGESTED PLACING A MESSAGE FROM EARTH,

AN IDEA WITH THE POTENTIAL

TO CAPTURE THE PUBLIC IMAGINATION.

Sagan: ATTACHED TO EACH SPACECRAFT

IS A FAIRLY ELABORATE MESSAGE

IN THE FORM OF A PHONOGRAPH RECORD

AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR PLAYING.

IT WAS A GOLD-PLATED COPPER RECORD,

A GIFT OF RECORDINGS AND GREETINGS

FROM THE INHABITANTS OF THIS PLANET

TO THOSE OF SOME OTHER.

[ CLASSICAL PIANO PLAYING ]

[ WOMAN SAYING "HELLO" IN MULTIPLE FOREIGN LANGUAGES ]

EACH DISK CONTAINED A COMBINATION

OF SOUNDS AND PICTURES, AND ABOVE ALL,

MUSIC FROM CHUCK BERRY TO AZERBAIJANI BAGPIPES

AND JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH.

SAGAN ARGUED THAT SOMETIME, SOMEWHERE,

ANOTHER CIVILIZATION MAY FIND ONE OF THE VOYAGERS.

THE RECORD'S PURPOSE WAS TO TELL THEM

WHAT KIND OF CREATURES HAD SENT IT.

Sagan: HOW MUCH WILL THEY KNOW ABOUT US,

ABOUT WHAT WE'RE REALLY LIKE?

TO COMMUNICATE THAT, MUSIC IS A WAY

OF EXPRESSION OF HUMAN FEELINGS, DESIRES, PASSIONS, HOPES.

IN SOME SENSE, ALL THE PERFORMERS

AND COMPOSERS ON THIS RECORD WILL LIVE FOREVER.

Narrator: WITH THEIR GOLDEN RECORDS ONBOARD

AND THE PUBLIC'S IMAGINATION FIRED UP,

THE GRAND TOUR WAS UNDERWAY,

BUT NO ONE COULD KNOW IF THE MISSION WAS GOING

TO DELIVER RESULTS

UNTIL THE VOYAGERS REACHED THEIR FIRST PLANET,

AND THAT WOULD TAKE TWO LONG YEARS.

IT'S A CROSS.

Narrator: APRIL, 1979,

AND TWO YEARS AFTER LAUNCH,

MISSION CONTROL WAS STEERING THE VOYAGERS

TOWARDS THEIR FIRST RENDEZVOUS.

IT WAS THE LARGEST PLANET IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM --

JUPITER.

BEFORE VOYAGER, THE BEST IMAGES ASTRONOMERS HAD

OF JUPITER AND ITS MOONS WERE FUZZY PHOTOGRAPHS.

COULD THE VOYAGERS CHANGE ALL THAT?

Stone: I THINK WE ALL FELT

THAT WE WERE IN THE TRADITION OF GALILEO,

WHO WAS THE FIRST TO SEE THE MOONS OF JUPITER

AND THE FIRST TO APPLY AN INSTRUMENT

TO INCREASE OUR ABILITY TO OBSERVE THE UNIVERSE.

VOYAGER WAS JUST THE LATEST TOOL

WHICH WE AS A CIVILIZATION HAD MANAGED TO DEVISE,

AND OF COURSE, THE TOOL WAS SO POWERFUL

THAT WE SAW THINGS NOBODY HAD SEEN BEFORE,

AND THAT NOBODY HAD IMAGINED WE WOULD SEE.

SEE, I'M A WEATHERMAN. I'M AN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENTIST,

AND WE KNEW ABOUT 300-YEAR-OLD STORMS, THE GREAT RED SPOT,

BECAUSE PEOPLE HAD BEEN LOOKING AT IT FROM EARTH,

AND FOR ME, THE SURPRISE WAS, WHEN WE GOT UP CLOSE,

WE SAW THAT THE ATMOSPHERE WAS JUST CHURNING AND TURBULENT,

AND IT MADE THIS 300-YEAR-OLD STORM

ALL THE MORE MYSTERIOUS,

'CAUSE HOW COULD IT GO ON IN THE MIDST

OF ALL THIS TURBULENCE?

Narrator: IN ADDITION TO EXTREME WEATHER,

JUPITER HAS AN IMMENSE MAGNETIC FIELD,

10,000 TIMES STRONGER THAN EARTH'S,

AND FOR THE VOYAGERS, THAT WAS A PROBLEM,

BECAUSE THIS MAGNETISM CREATES LETHAL RADIATION BELTS

WHICH CAN SCRAMBLE THE COMPUTERS

OF ANY SPACECRAFT THAT GETS TOO CLOSE.

YET, GETTING CLOSE WAS EXACTLY WHAT WAS NEEDED.

THE VOYAGER TEAM WANTED TO SEND VOYAGER 1 TO EXPLORE IO,

ONE OF JUPITER'S FOUR LARGEST MOONS,

AND IT WAS THE NEAREST OF ALL OF THEM TO THE PLANET.

THE SPACECRAFT WAS DESIGNED

TO WITHSTAND A CERTAIN TOTAL DOSE OF RADIATION,

AND FULLY 50% OF THAT EXPECTED DOSE

WAS GOING TO OCCUR AS WE APPROACHED AND FLEW BY IO.

[ HIGH-PITCHED WHISTLING ]

Narrator: AS VOYAGER 1 APPROACHED,

IT SENT BACK RECORDINGS

OF THE RADIO SIGNAL GENERATED BY THE RADIATION.

THESE ARE THE REAL SOUNDS OF THE ONSLAUGHT.

BACK AT JPL, THE VOYAGER TEAM WORRIED

WHETHER IT COULD WITHSTAND SUCH AN ASSAULT,

AND IF THE GAMBLE WOULD PAY OFF.

VOYAGER NAVIGATION ENGINEER LYNDA HYDER

WAS THE FIRST TO FIND OUT.

Hyder: WELL, I CAME IN ABOUT 9:00 THAT MORNING

TO THE NAVIGATION AREA, AND THE TAPE WITH THE PICTURES

THE SPACECRAFT HAD TAKEN THE DAY BEFORE WAS ON MY DESK.

I PUT THEM ON THE COMPUTER SYSTEM AND I DISPLAYED THEM.

AND I COULD SEE THAT IO, THE MOON OF IO, WAS A CRESCENT,

AS VERY OFTEN OUR OWN MOON IS, A CRESCENT IN THE NIGHT SKY.

AND I WENT AND ENHANCED THE BRIGHTNESS,

AND THERE APPEARED, BESIDE IO, AN OBJECT --

A HUGE OBJECT,

AND IT COMPLETELY CAPTURED MY ATTENTION.

IT LOOKED LIKE ANOTHER MOON PEEKING OUT BEHIND IO.

BUT THERE WAS NO OTHER MOON,

AND THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAMERA.

LYNDA DECIDED THIS OBJECT HAD TO BE PART OF IO.

AND, IN FACT, THAT WAS VERY HARD TO ACCEPT,

BECAUSE THE SIZE OF THIS OBJECT WAS ENORMOUS.

AND WHEN I EXPLORED IT, I WAS ABLE TO FIND

THAT THIS LARGE, STRANGE OBJECT --

IT WAS EXACTLY COINCIDENT

AND FELL OVER A HEART-SHAPED FEATURE ON IO.

WHAT I HAD DISCOVERED WAS THE HUGE PLUME

OF A VOLCANIC ERUPTION

ARISING 270 KILOMETERS

OVER THE SURFACE OF IO AND RAINING BACK DOWN ONTO IT.

SO I HAD DISCOVERED THE FIRST-EVER VOLCANIC ERUPTION

EVER SEEN ON ANOTHER WORLD BESIDES THE EARTH.

Narrator: THE GAMBLE OF BEING EXPOSED TO SUCH RADIATION HAD PAID OFF.

VOYAGER 1 HAD REVEALED THAT IO,

THE CLOSEST OF JUPITER'S LARGE MOONS,

WAS MORE GEOLOGICALLY ACTIVE THAN THE EARTH.

JUPITER'S ENORMOUS GRAVITY STRETCHES AND SQUEEZES THE MOON,

FORCING ITS CORE TO HEAT UP

AND ITS INTERIOR TO STAY MOLTEN.

WITH JUPITER BEHIND THEM,

THE TWO VOYAGER SPACECRAFT

HEADED FURTHER OUT INTO INTERPLANETARY SPACE.

IT WOULD BE MORE THAN TWO YEARS

BEFORE THEY REACHED THE NEXT DESTINATION

ON THEIR GRAND TOUR --

THE PLANET SATURN,

ALMOST A BILLION MILES AWAY.

Narrator: THE TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING

NEEDED TO ACCOMPLISH VOYAGER'S LONG-DISTANCE,

LONG-DURATION SPACE FLIGHT WAS TRULY REMARKABLE.

THE SPACECRAFT NEEDED TO BE DESIGNED

TO COPE WITH ANYTHING

THEIR MULTI-BILLION-MILE JOURNEY WOULD THROW AT THEM.

[ BOSTON'S "MORE THAN A FEELING" PLAYING ]

IN 1981, TWO YEARS FROM THE STUNNING IMAGES OF JUPITER,

THE PUBLIC WAS LINING UP TO GET THEIR FIRST CLEAR VIEWS

OF THE MYSTERIOUS RINGED PLANET SATURN.

¶ MORE THAN A FEELIN' ¶

¶ MORE THAN A FEELIN' ¶

¶ WHEN I HEAR THAT OLD SONG THEY USED TO PLAY ¶

¶ MORE THAN A FEELIN' ¶

¶ I BEGIN DREAMIN' ¶

THE VOYAGER TEAM HAD PREPARED IN METICULOUS DETAIL

FOR THE ENCOUNTER.

THEY KNEW THEY HAD JUST A TINY WINDOW

TO GET IT RIGHT.

EACH SPACECRAFT WOULD FLY BY SO QUICKLY,

ON SUCH A CLOSE APPROACH,

THERE WAS ALMOST NO TIME TO GATHER DATA.

THE CLOSEST APPROACH FLYBY SEQUENCES ARE A MATTER OF HOURS.

YOU KNOW, REALLY, THE TIGHTEST, CLOSEST APPROACH ACTIVITY'S

WITHIN ABOUT A 12-HOUR SPAN.

Narrator: IN PARTICULAR, THE TEAM NEEDED TO DECIDE

WHERE TO POINT THE CAMERAS.

THE SCAN PLATFORM, WHICH INCLUDED THE CAMERAS

AND THE SPECTROMETERS --

AM I GONNA POINT IT AT THE MOON? AND WHICH MOON?

OR AM I GONNA POINT IT AT THE PLANET?

OR WHICH WAY AM I GONNA POINT IT?

AND SO YOU HAVE TO ARGUE WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES.

BLUE-ISH.

BLUER THAN GRAY.

Narrator: BUT IT WAS THE RINGS OF SATURN WHICH STOLE THE SHOW.

Flandro: WHEN I BEGAN MY WORK, I HAD SUGGESTED

THAT ONE THING WE COULD DO WITH THIS PARTICULAR MISSION

WAS TO FLY BETWEEN THE PLANET AND THE RINGS,

AND, VERY FORTUNATELY, WE DIDN'T DO THAT,

BECAUSE AS WE APPROACHED SATURN,

WE SAW THAT THE REGION THERE

THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE FLOWN THROUGH WITH THE SPACECRAFT

WAS FILLED WITH MORE RINGS. THERE WAS NO QUESTION

THAT SPACECRAFT WOULD NOT HAVE SURVIVED

TRYING TO GO THROUGH THAT GAP.

Narrator: THE IMAGING TEAM COULD BARELY COPE WITH ALL THE NEW DATA.

WHAT I REMEMBER, IT WASN'T REALLY STRESSFUL,

BUT IT WAS JUST CHAOTIC AND HECTIC AND EXCITING

RIGHT THE FEW DAYS AROUND THE ENCOUNTER,

TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH THE DISCOVERIES AS THEY POURED IN.

EVENTUALLY, NO ONE GOT ANY SLEEP

BECAUSE WE WERE JUST OVERWHELMED WITH NEW STUFF.

WELL, LOOK AT THOSE. NOW THOSE ARE REALLY ODD.

Narrator: VOYAGER REVEALED STRANGE FEATURES CALLED SPOKES --

PATCHES OF DUST PARTICLES SLIGHTLY RAISED ABOVE THE RINGS.

BY STUDYING A SERIES OF TIME-LAPSE PICTURES

OF THE SPOKES, THE VOYAGER TEAM

DISCOVERED THEY FOLLOWED SATURN'S MAGNETIC FIELD

AS IT ROTATED WITH THE PLANET.

FOUR YEARS SINCE LAUNCH,

THE VOYAGERS HAD, SO FAR, BEEN A WILD SUCCESS.

BUT NOW CAME THE MISSION PLANNERS' BIGGEST GAMBLE.

HERE AT SATURN,

THE TWIN SPACECRAFT WOULD PART COMPANY.

VOYAGER 1 WOULD BE DIVERTED TOWARDS SATURN'S LARGEST MOON,

TITAN.

IT WAS AN ENTICING TARGET.

Porco: I MEAN, IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE COMPOSITION

OF TITAN'S ATMOSPHERE

MAKES IT KIND OF AN ANALOGUE WITH THE EARTH,

WHICH IS TERRIBLY SURPRISING,

BECAUSE NO ONE EXPECTED, YEARS AGO,

YOU'D FIND AN ANALOGUE OF THE EARTH

OUT AT THE DISTANCE OF SATURN.

Narrator: WITH AN ATMOSPHERE OF SIMILAR DENSITY TO EARTH'S,

IT WAS BELIEVED TITAN MIGHT EVEN HARBOR PRIMITIVE LIFE.

BUT THE MANEUVER CAME AT A GREAT COST.

TO FLY PAST TITAN,

VOYAGER 1'S GRAND TOUR WOULD HAVE TO BE SACRIFICED.

TO VISIT THIS INTRIGUING MOON,

IT NEEDED TO BE PUT ON A DIFFERENT PATH,

THROWING IT UP AT AN ANGLE,

OUT OF THE PLANE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

BEYOND TITAN, THERE WOULD BE NO MORE

PLANETARY ENCOUNTERS FOR VOYAGER 1.

IN THE END, THE TITAN FLYBY WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT.

VOYAGER 1'S CAMERAS COULDN'T PENETRATE ITS ATMOSPHERE

TO OFFER FURTHER CLUES TO WHETHER LIFE MIGHT BE BENEATH.

TITAN WAS THE FIRST MAJOR SETBACK FOR THE VOYAGER TEAM.

IT MEANT VOYAGER 1 HAD BEEN SACRIFICED FOR VERY LITTLE,

AND WAS NOW SPEEDING AWAY FROM THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

Narrator: THE REST OF THE GRAND TOUR

WOULD HAVE TO RELY ON ONE SINGLE SPACECRAFT -- VOYAGER 2.

NOW ON ITS OWN, IT WAS HEADING ACROSS THE SOLAR SYSTEM

TOWARDS THE OUTER-MOST PLANETS.

BUT THEN,

JUST AS IT LEFT SATURN, ANOTHER SETBACK.

THE TEAM NOTICED VOYAGER 2'S CAMERA PLATFORM

HAD STARTED TO JAM.

WITHOUT THE CRUCIAL ABILITY TO PAN ITS CAMERAS,

THERE WOULD BE FEW PICTURES OF THE OTHER OUTER PLANETS.

IT WAS A POTENTIAL DISASTER,

AND THE TEAM STRUGGLED TO FIND THE CAUSE.

Casani: IN THE CASE OF THE STUCK SCAN PLATFORM,

THE EXPECTATION WAS THAT THERE WAS A PIECE OF DEBRIS,

WHICH IS NOT LIKELY.

I MEAN, WE ARE SO CAREFUL

WHEN WE PUT THESE MACHINES TOGETHER.

SO, THEN IT GOES DOWN TO,

"WELL, MAYBE IT'S THE LUBRICANT,

THE WAY THE LUBRICANT HAS DISTRIBUTED ITSELF."

Narrator: SO, HOW DO YOU FIX A SPACECRAFT

THAT'S OVER A BILLION MILES AWAY?

WHAT WE DECIDED TO DO

WAS TO EXERCISE IT VERY CAREFULLY,

MOVING THE GEARS TRAIN BACK AND FORTH SLOWLY OVER THIS SPOT.

AND WE COULD SEE THAT WE WERE MAKING PROGRESS,

AND THEY SAY, "OKAY, THIS IS IT," AND WE WORKED WITH IT.

Narrator: BUT WITHOUT ANY TARGET TO FOCUS THE CAMERAS ON,

THEY HAD NO WAY TO KNOW IF THEIR FIX WAS SUCCESSFUL.

THEY'D ONLY KNOW THAT WHEN VOYAGER 2

REACHED ITS NEXT DESTINATION --

URANUS.

EVEN TRAVELING AT 50,000 AN HOUR,

THIS ENCOUNTER WAS FIVE YEARS AWAY,

WHICH MEANT HALF A DECADE OF UNCERTAINTY AND ANXIETY.

WELL, JUST ABOUT TWO MINUTES AGO,

VOYAGER 2 PASSED THROUGH ITS CLOSEST APPROACH TO URANUS.

[ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ]

Narrator: DESPITE THEIR FIX TO THE SCAN PLATFORM,

WITH LIMITED LIGHT THIS FAR FROM THE SUN,

THE VOYAGER TEAM KNEW THEIR CAMERAS WOULD STRUGGLE.

Stone: VOYAGER WAS PLANNED TO OPERATE AT 1 BILLION MILES AT SATURN.

IT WAS NOW BEING ASKED TO OPERATE

AT 2 BILLION MILES AT URANUS, WHERE THE SUN WAS VERY DIM.

AND WE HAD TO DO SEVERAL THINGS.

FOR INSTANCE, YOU HAVE TO HAVE

MUCH LONGER EXPOSURES ON THE CAMERA,

AND IF YOU HAVE TOO LONG OF AN EXPOSURE,

THE SPACECRAFT'S MOVING VERY RAPIDLY, THINGS BECOME SMEARED.

SO WE HAD TO LEARN HOW TO PROGRAM THE SPACECRAFT

TO TURN AT JUST THE RIGHT RATE

SO IT WOULD COMPENSATE FOR THE MOTION OF THE SPACECRAFT.

THEY HAD TO BASICALLY REPROGRAM THE BRAINS OF THE SPACECRAFT.

IT DIDN'T HAVE VERY MANY BRAINS, BY TODAY'S STANDARDS,

BUT THEY HAD TO REPROGRAM IT,

AND THOSE WERE FANTASTIC ACHIEVEMENTS.

Narrator: AS THE FIRST IMAGES OF URANUS ARRIVED BACK AT EARTH,

IT BECAME CLEAR THE ENGINEERS INGENUITY HAD,

ONCE AGAIN, PAID OFF.

BUT THE EXTRAORDINARY PIN-SHARP PICTURES

OF THIS DISTANT PLANET,

2 BILLION MILES FROM EARTH,

REVEALED TANTALIZINGLY LITTLE.

WOULD THE TEAM DISCOVER MORE AT NEPTUNE,

THE LAST MAJOR PLANET IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM?

THIS MYSTERIOUS WORLD HAD RESISTED INVESTIGATION FROM EVEN

THE MOST POWERFUL TELESCOPES.

TO MAINTAIN ITS TRAJECTORY,

VOYAGER 2 NEEDED TO MAKE A LOW PASS

OVER NEPTUNE'S NORTH POLE,

BUT THIS BROUGHT ITS OWN PROBLEMS.

BECAUSE OF INCREASED SPEED AND APPROACH ANGLE,

VOYAGER 2'S WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

WOULD BE THE NARROWEST YET.

Stone: THE CHALLENGE AT NEPTUNE

WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT ONE WE'D HAD.

WE HAD TO KNOW, WITHIN ONE SECOND,

WHEN WE WERE GOING TO FLY OVER THE NORTH POLE OF NEPTUNE.

THAT WAS A MAJOR NAVIGATIONAL CHALLENGE.

WE HAD NEVER DELIVERED THAT KIND OF ACCURACY BEFORE,

AND IF WE WERE RIGHT, IT WORKED,

AND IF WE WERE WRONG, WE HAD NO SECOND CHANCE.

Narrator: NOT ONLY DID THE TEAM NEED TO POSITION A SPACECRAFT

WITHIN A SECOND OF ACCURACY AFTER A FLIGHT OF 12 YEARS,

BUT TO ENSURE SCIENTIFIC SUCCESS,

THEY ALSO HAD TO FORECAST THE WEATHER

ON A PLANET 3 BILLION MILES AWAY FROM EARTH.

Ingersoll: WE HAD TO FORECAST

WHERE TO POINT THE CAMERAS TWO WEEKS IN ADVANCE

WHERE THOSE INTERESTING FEATURES ARE GONNA BE,

AND WE SAID, "WELL, THEY'RE MOVING AROUND.

THEY'RE STORMS IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF NEPTUNE."

AND THIS WAS AUGUST OF 1989,

AND THERE WAS A BIG HURRICANE OFF THE COAST OF FLORIDA,

AND THE WEATHER FORECASTERS HERE SAY,

"WELL, 12 HOURS FROM NOW,

WE THINK IT'S GONNA VEER RIGHT,

OR WE THINK IT'S GONNA GO LEFT,

BUT WE'RE NOT SURE."

IT MAY BE STARTING TO TURN A LITTLE BIT MORE

TOWARDS THE NORTHWEST OR WEST-NORTHWEST.

AND MEANWHILE, WE WERE CONFIDENTLY

ISSUING WEATHER FORECASTS

FOR NEPTUNE TWO WEEKS IN ADVANCE

AND TELLING THE ENGINEERS,

"OKAY, TWO WEEKS FROM NOW,

POINT YOUR CAMERA THERE AND THERE'LL BE A STORM THERE."

AND WE WERE RIGHT!

IT WAS GLORIOUS! [ LAUGHS ]

Narrator: THE FLY BY WAS APPROACHING.

WOULD THE SOFTWARE REWRITES AND RUNNING REPAIRS HOLD TOGETHER

TO GIVE HUMANITY ITS ONLY CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH NEPTUNE?

THERE WAS NOTHING MORE TO DO BUT WAIT AND HOPE.

AFTER 12 YEARS OF FLIGHT AND DECADES OF ANTICIPATION,

THE GIANT BLUE PLANET BEGAN TO LOOM IN VOYAGER 2'S LENSES.

ON AUGUST 25th, 1989,

THE SPACECRAFT PASSED WITHIN 3,000 MILES

OF NEPTUNE'S NORTH POLE.

THE CRAFT HAD SURVIVED THE 3-BILLION-MILE JOURNEY

TO THE EDGE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

[ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ]

THE FINAL ENCOUNTER, I WAS ABLE TO WITNESS HERE AT JPL

WITH MY YOUNGEST SON,

AND WE WATCHED WITH FASCINATION

AS THE PICTURES OF NEPTUNE UNFOLDED.

SUDDENLY, THINGS THAT NO ONE HAD IMAGINED WERE THERE.

HERE WAS A PLANET THAT WAS VIBRANT WITH LIFE.

IT HAD ITS OWN GREAT SPOT,

THE DARK SPOT IN THIS CASE,

WHITE CLOUDS FLOATING IN ITS ATMOSPHERE,

AND THESE THINGS UNFOLDED BEFORE OUR VERY EYES,

AND WHAT A WONDERFUL SURPRISE.

NEPTUNE, FOR ME, WAS A GREAT SURPRISE.

Porco: THERE WAS SOMETHING STRANGE AND EERIE ABOUT NEPTUNE,

BECAUSE HERE, THE LAST PLANET, YOU KNOW, THE SENTINEL

AT THE OUTER EDGE OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM LOOKS LIKE EARTH

WITH ITS BEAUTIFUL, DEEP-BLUE COLOR

AND ITS WHITE CLOUDS FLOATING IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

WE WERE BACK WITH A REALLY EXCITING PLANET

AGAIN AT NEPTUNE.

THERE WERE FAST-MOVING CLOUDS,

CLOUDS THAT MOVED IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS,

SOME OF THEM ALMOST AT SONIC SPEEDS.

THE COMPLEXITY OF THE PLANET'S ATMOSPHERE

WAS FAR BEYOND OUR EXPECTATIONS.

Narrator: VOYAGER 2 HAD SURVIVED

TO REACH THE EXTREMES OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

IT HAD REVEALED NOT JUST THE PLANETS THEMSELVES,

BUT WHOLE SYSTEMS OF RINGS AND MOONS

UNLIKE ANYTHING WE'D IMAGINED.

SUZANNE DODD CAPTURED A FINAL IMAGE FROM THE HISTORIC FLIGHT.

ONE OF THE IMAGES I TOOK AND HELPED DESIGN

WAS THE ONE WHERE YOU HAVE --

IT'S ACTUALLY ONE TAKEN WHEN YOU'RE GOING AWAY.

YOU HAVE THE CRESCENT OF NEPTUNE,

AND THEN YOU HAVE THE CRESCENT OF NEPTUNE'S MOON, TRITON,

IN THE BACKGROUND, AND YOU'RE TAKING THAT

AS THE SPACECRAFT IS TRAVELING OUT OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

YOU SAY, "THAT'S THE LAST IMAGE

THAT VOYAGER 2 IS GONNA TAKE,

AND THAT'S THE LAST IMAGE THAT SPACECRAFT'S GONNA REMEMBER

OF THOSE PLANETS.

Narrator: VOYAGER 2 DELIVERED ITS FINAL IMAGES IN 1989,

MORE DATA ON THE OUTER PLANETS

HAD BEEN COLLECTED BY THE TWO VOYAGER SPACECRAFTS

THAN IN THE REST OF HUMAN HISTORY.

BUT LET'S NOT FORGET VOYAGER 1,

HEADING OUT OF THE PLANE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

ALTHOUGH IT HADN'T BEEN ABLE

TO MAKE ANY MORE ENCOUNTERS WITH PLANETS,

THERE WAS ONE LAST, SPECIAL TASK ITS MAKERS ASKED OF IT.

BECAUSE IT WAS HIGH ABOVE THE SOLAR SYSTEM

RATHER IN ITS PLANE,

VOYAGER 1 HAD A VIEW OF ALL THE PLANETS

THAT ITS TWIN COULD NEVER HAVE.

CARL SAGAN AND CAROLYN PORCO BEGAN DISCUSSING AN IDEA.

VOYAGER WAS GONNA BE IN A LOCATION

THAT NO OTHER SPACECRAFT HAD BEEN BEFORE,

EQUIPPED WITH, YOU KNOW, SOPHISTICATED INSTRUMENTATION

SO THAT IT COULD TURN AROUND AND TAKE A PICTURE

OF ALL THE PLANETS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM,

AND I THOUGHT THAT THIS WOULD BE A RIVETING COLLECTION OF IMAGES.

YOU KNOW, A FIRST.

Narrator: SO ON VALENTINE'S DAY, 1990,

13 YEARS AFTER LEAVING EARTH,

VOYAGER 1 WAS ASKED TO TURN ITS CAMERAS BACK

TOWARDS THE PLANETS.

NOW, 3.7 BILLION MILES AWAY,

BY THE TIME VOYAGER'S PITIFULLY WEAK SIGNAL

REACHED THE DISHES ON EARTH,

IT WAS JUST A MILLIONTH OF A BILLIONTH OF A WATT OF POWER.

IT WAS THEN BOOSTED AND SENT ON TO PASADENA,

WHERE THE IMAGE WAS ASSEMBLED HERE

IN THE DEEP-SPACE CONTROL ROOM.

A UNIQUE FAMILY PORTRAIT --

THE ULTIMATE SNAPSHOT OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.

HERE IS THE MOSAIC TAKEN...

Narrator: FOR CARL SAGAN, THE SYMBOLIC VALUE

OF THE PHOTOGRAPH WAS A GIFT.

...THE PLANETS MOVE AROUND THE SUN, AND IN ANY GIVEN MOMENT...

Narrator: HE HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE TO PUBLICIZE IT AROUND THE WORLD.

THE PORTRAIT OF THE PLANETS HAS NOW BEEN TAKEN.

THIS LOOKS LIKE MORE THAN A DOT,

BUT IT IS, IN FACT, LESS THAN A PIXEL.

IN THIS COLOR PICTURE, YOU CAN SEE THAT IT IS SLIGHTLY BLUE,

AND THIS IS WHERE WE LIVE, ON A BLUE DOT.

WITH THIS FINAL HISTORIC IMAGE CAPTURED,

AND NOTHING MORE TO PHOTOGRAPH,

VOYAGER 1'S CAMERAS WERE TURNED OFF TO SAVE POWER.

[ BEEPING ]

Narrator: WITH OVER 35 YEARS ON MISSION,

THE VOYAGERS HURTLE AWAY FROM US OVER 10 MILES A SECOND.

THEIR CUTTING-EDGE, 1970s TECHNOLOGY KEEPS ON CHUGGING.

AND, REMARKABLY, THEY CONTINUE TO SEND BACK NEW INFORMATION

ABOUT THE SPACE THEY ARE NOW TRAVELING THROUGH,

11 BILLION MILES FROM EARTH.

[ INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER ]

EVEN TRAVELING AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT,

THEIR MESSAGES TAKE QUITE A WHILE TO GET HOME.

THE JOURNEY TIME NOW IS ABOUT 15 HOURS, ONE WAY,

FROM VOYAGER 1 BACK TO EARTH,

AND SO YOU SEND A SIGNAL UP,

AND THE NEXT DAY, YOU COME BACK, AND YOU HAVE SOME INDICATION

THAT THE SPACECRAFT HEARD THE SIGNAL AND RESPONDED.

[ INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER ]

Dodd: THERE ARE FIVE INSTRUMENTS

THAT ARE STILL OPERATING ON THE SPACECRAFT,

AND WE'RE STARTING TO SEE THE EVIDENCE NOW IN THE DATA

THAT WE ARE CROSSING INTO INTERSTELLAR SPACE.

WE'RE SEEING THINGS THAT WOULD LEAD US TO BELIEVE

THAT WE ARE ON THAT BOUNDARY.

Narrator: NOW OUR PLANETARY EXPLORERS

ARE CROSSING THIS BOUNDARY OF THE SUN'S INFLUENCE.

THEY'RE TRAVELING BEYOND THE LIMITS OF OUR SOLAR WIND

AND INTO THE GALAXY BEYOND.

IT'S THE FIRST TIME ANY OBJECT BUILT BY HUMANS

HAS ACHIEVED THIS -- A NEW CHAPTER

IN HUMAN EXPLORATION IS BEGINNING.

Dodd: WE HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO GET US ABOUT 10 MORE YEARS,

MAYBE OUT TO 2025, BUT WE WILL, OVER THE COURSE OF THOSE YEARS,

HAVE TO TURN OFF THINGS SO THAT WE CONTINUE

TO HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO RUN THE TRANSMITTER

TO SEND THE DATA BACK TO THE EARTH.

[ INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER ]

Ingersoll: THE FACT THAT VOYAGER'S STILL ALIVE,

AND THERE'S STILL A SIGNAL FROM IT,

AND ITS ABOUT TO LEAVE THE SOLAR SYSTEM --

I THINK THAT'S WONDERFUL, THAT IT HASN'T JUST GIVEN UP

OR THAT WE HAVEN'T GIVEN UP ON IT.

IT'S A TRIBUTE TO WHAT VOYAGER MEANS TO US,

THAT WE'VE KEPT IT GOING.

Stone: REALLY, IT'S WONDERFUL AS A SCIENTIST

TO BE STILL EXPLORING,

STILL GOING SOMEWHERE NO SPACECRAFT HAS BEEN BEFORE.

Narrator: OVER 35 YEARS ENGAGED IN ONE MISSION

HAS SEEN THE TEAM AT JPL AGE,

EVENTS IN THEIR LIVES

RUNNING PARALLEL TO THE VOYAGERS' ENCOUNTERS.

Stone: WHEN I STARTED ON VOYAGER, MY TWO DAUGHTERS WERE YOUNG,

BY THE TIME THEY WERE IN COLLEGE,

WE WERE ALREADY HAD PASSED SATURN.

WE WERE ON OUR WAY TO URANUS.

THEY GOT MARRIED AND THE VOYAGER JUST KEPT GOING.

WE HAD GRANDCHILDREN AND VOYAGER JUST KEPT GOING,

AND SO NOW OUR GRANDCHILDREN ARE AWARE

OF WHAT'S HAPPENING TO VOYAGER JUST LIKE OUR CHILDREN WERE.

Narrator: LONG AFTER THEIR POWER HAS GONE,

THE VOYAGERS WILL CONTINUE TO RUSH AWAY FROM US,

1.5 TONS OF 1970s ENGINEERING,

MONUMENTS TO HUMAN ENDEAVOR AND EXPLORATION

HEADING OUT TOWARDS THE STARS.

I BELIEVE THE NEXT ENCOUNTER

WITH THE CLOSEST STAR

IS SOMETHING LIKE 40,000 YEARS FROM NOW.

Narrator: THE TWO GOLDEN DISKS ARE STILL ATTACHED

TO THE SIDES OF EACH SPACECRAFT,

AND IN THE BENIGN, EMPTY ENVIRONMENT OF DEEP SPACE,

THEY WILL OUTLIVE THE PYRAMIDS.

THEY'RE LIKELY TO OUTLIVE US,

AND PERHAPS EVEN THE EARTH ITSELF --

THE ONLY RECORD OF OUR EXISTENCE.

Boy: HELLO FROM THE CHILDREN OF PLANET EARTH.

YET DESPITE THE AMBITION, GIVEN THE VASTNESS OF SPACE,

IT'S ALMOST INCONCEIVABLE

THAT THESE TWO TINY SPACECRAFT

WILL EVER BE INTERCEPTED BY OTHER BEINGS.

IT'S A LITTLE BIT LIKE THROWING A BOTTLE

INTO THE COSMIC OCEAN.

Narrator: BUT SAGAN WAS CLEVER ENOUGH TO REALIZE THIS.

HE KNEW THAT IT WASN'T WHAT THE GOLDEN RECORD

SAID TO OTHER CIVILIZATIONS THAT MATTERED,

MORE SIGNIFICANT WAS WHAT IT SAID TO OUR OWN.

Sagan: YOU MIGHT THINK THAT IT IS A HOPELESSLY QUIXOTIC PROJECT

TO LAUNCH THIS MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

INTO INTERSTELLAR SPACE AND EXPECT ANYONE WILL FIND IT,

BUT THERE ARE REALLY TWO KINDS OF RECIPIENTS OF THE MESSAGE

ON THE VOYAGER RECORDS.

ONE IS THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL AUDIENCE,

THE OTHER AUDIENCE IS DOWN HERE ON EARTH.

HERE IS A MOMENT WHEN WE HAVE TO SUDDENLY THINK,

WHAT IS THERE ABOUT OUR CULTURE

THAT WE WOULD WANT OTHERS TO KNOW ABOUT?

THAT WE WOULD BE PROUD OF.

THE RECORD SHOULD REPRESENT THE HUMAN SPECIES

AS AN ENTIRETY.

THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN SPECIES SEEN DOWN HERE

IS A FACT THAT IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE HUMAN FUTURE.