NASA Europa Clipper to carry unique message to Jupiter's moon, packed with Earth's essence

tech.hindustantimes.com:

In a celestial nod to human creativity and curiosity, NASA is set to launch its Europa Clipper spacecraft in October, bound for Jupiter's moon Europa. Nestled within the spacecraft is a symbolic message, marking a departure from NASA's longstanding tradition of sending inspirational dispatches into the cosmos.

The heart of this cosmic artefact is a triangular metal plate, approximately 7 by 11 inches, constructed from tantalum. Adorning its surface is an engraving of U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón's handwritten "In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa." This poetic tribute is accompanied by a silicon microchip stencilled with over 2.6 million names submitted by the public, forming the centrepiece of an illustration depicting a bottle amid the Jovian system- a tribute to NASA's "Message in a Bottle" campaign.

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Functioning as a modern-day Golden Record for Europa, the plate boasts graphic elements on both sides. The outward-facing panel features art emphasizing Earth's connection to Europa, including recordings of the word "water" spoken in 103 languages, etched into the plate as waveforms. These linguistic representations radiate from a symbol depicting the American Sign Language sign for "water."

In a parallel to the Voyager spacecraft's iconic Golden Record, the layered message on Europa Clipper aspires to ignite imaginations and present a unified vision. Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters, underscores the plate's significance, stating, "The plate combines the best humanity has to offer across the universe- science, technology, education, art, and math."

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Scheduled to arrive at Jupiter in 2030 after a 2.6-billion-kilometer journey, Europa Clipper will undertake 49 close flybys of Europa. Armed with powerful scientific instruments, the spacecraft aims to gather data