A time capsule carrying humanity's words of wisdom--including some from The Beatles--is getting ready to fly to space. The Lucy spacecraft will visit Jupiter's Trojan asteroids while carrying a plaque engraved with messages from Earth.
Designed to last for thousands, if not millions, of years, distant future descendants from Earth might retrieve Lucy as a relic of the early days of humanity
On Monday, NASA featured the Lucy spacecraft and its mission message to the future.
"Lucy" took its name from the fossil skeleton that revolutionized human origins. It is also a moniker inspired by The Beatles' 1967 classic song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." NASA aims to convert Lucy as a treasure to inspire humans in the future, according to a Cnet report.
Lucy Spacecraft: Time Capsule Plaque to Feature The Beatles
A time capsule plaque was made to engrave the messages from prominent thinkers. Some of the famous quotes listed are from Billy Collins (American Poet), Martin Luther King Jr. (American minister and civil rights activist), and Albert Einstein (German-born theoretical physicist).
Members of The Beatles are also heavily featured in this plaque. The band member's quotes are inscribed as follows:
- "And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make." John Lennon (1940-1980)
- "We all shine on . . . like the moon and the stars and the sun." Sir Paul McCartney (1942-)
- "Peace and Love" Ringo Starr (1940-)
- "When you've seen beyond yourself then you may find peace of mind is waiting there." George Harrison (1943-2001)
Full details on the people involved and the specific quotes they contributed are available on the Lucy website.
The plaque has also been inscribed with an image of the current solar system. It shows the opposite phases of Earth and a logo of both NASA and Lucy. This message will be sent with the intent to preserve a copy of the solar system, should it possibly change shape in the distant future.
NASA Lucy Spacecraft Launch Date
The Lucy spacecraft mission is scheduled to start on October 16, together with its launch date. NASA does not elaborate if they have plans to livestream the event. However, NASA constantly keeps its page updated with Lucy's progress through their official website.
NASA Lucy Spacecraft Design
Lucy is not the first spacecraft NASA designed to share wisdom in space. Back in 2015, per Cnet, NASA sent a golden record made for alien ears. It was a sound album containing different sounds from Earth, like a baby's cry, winds, rains or different types of transportation. The full compilation of these sounds is available in NASA's Soundcloud.
However, Lucy is different from the Golden Record. Instead of aliens, Lucy has been designed to carry a message to other human beings. It used English letters to convey its message since English is the international language. More updates for the Lucy spacecraft will be available the closer it gets to the launch date.
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