Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.
When NASA’s Europa Clipper aims to begin its highly anticipated mission to the icy moon in October, the spacecraft will carry a unique design engraved with names, poems and artwork symbolizing humanity.
The US space agency has a long history of sending names and meaningful designs to missions, including the Voyager probes, the Perseverance rover and the Parker Solar Probe. Now it’s Europa Clipper’s turn to continue the tradition of delivering a design that shows why people are eager to explore the cosmos.
This latest mission heads to Jupiter’s moon Europa, one of several lunar ocean worlds considered the best places to look for life beyond Earth. Scientists estimate that beneath Europa’s thick icy crust lies a global ocean containing more than twice as much water as Earth’s oceans. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Earth’s oceans contain approximately 321 million cubic miles (1.3 billion cubic kilometers) of water.
The triangular plate, decorated on both sides and made of the rare metal tantalum, will enclose the spacecraft’s sensitive electronics inside a casing to protect them from Jupiter’s harsh radiation.
Inside the case is a silicon microchip containing more than 2.6 million names submitted by the public. The microchip is at the center of the design, which depicts a bottle floating in orbit around Jupiter and its moons, symbolizing that the bottle acts as a cosmic message inside.
Technicians at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, used electron beams to stencil names smaller than one-thousandth the width of a human hair.
On the bottom of the bottle, the design features US Poet Ada Limón’s original poem “Ode to Mystery: A Poem for Europa” engraved in her own handwriting, as well as a portrait of planetary sciences pioneer Ron Greeley of Arizona State. University professor who played a crucial role in laying the foundations for the development of a mission to Europe.
The side of the plate facing the interior of the case also features an engraving of the Drake Equation, developed in 1961 by the late astronomer Frank Drake of the University of California Santa Cruz to estimate the likelihood of finding advanced life beyond Earth. The equation remains an important part of astrobiological research as scientists search for evidence of life beyond our planet.
The outside of the plate features waveforms, or visual representations of sound waves, depicting the word “water” in 103 languages from around the world. At the center of the spiral is a symbol meaning “water” in American Sign Language. Sounds of spoken languages collected by linguists for NASA are available on the website.
A planetary legacy
Early NASA probes such as Pioneer 10 and Voyager went on to inspire traveling artwork on other planetary science missions.
When NASA’s twin Voyager probes lifted off to explore the solar system just a few weeks apart in 1977, they carried identical golden records designed to be the first recorded interstellar message from humans to potential intelligent life in the universe. The recordings included both audio and visuals intended to capture the diversity of life and culture on Earth, including greetings in 59 human languages and 115 images of life.
Europa Clipper’s plate was designed with that spirit in mind, to honor the potential connection between the Moon’s ocean and Earth’s oceans, according to NASA.
“The contents and design of Europa Clipper’s vault plate are swimming with meaning,” Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, said in a statement. “The plate combines the best that humanity has to offer – science, technology, education, art and mathematics – from across the universe. “The message of connection through water, essential to all life forms as we know them, perfectly illustrates Earth’s connection to this mysterious ocean world that we set out to explore.”
After traveling 1.6 billion miles (2.6 billion kilometers) to Europa, the Europa Clipper will spend the next few years flying past the icy moon to see if the ocean underneath could support life. Europa Clipper will make about 50 flybys to Europa, eventually coming 16 miles (25.7 kilometers) above the thick ice shell and scanning nearly the entire moon.
The spacecraft will use cameras, spectrometers, ice-penetrating radar and a thermal device to understand how the moon formed and whether life is possible on icy ocean worlds.
“We put a lot of thought and inspiration into this plate design, as we did into this mission itself,” JPL project scientist Robert Pappalardo said in a statement. “This has been a decades-long journey, and we can’t wait to see what Europa Clipper will show us in this aquatic world.”
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at CNN.com