Planetary poetry

The inspiration for this blog—the 'Golden disk' on Voyager—is not the only example of a human message sent out on an interplanetary journey. The early days of space exploration were filled with declarations from us humans here on Earth. For instance, both Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 in the early 1970s (sent to explore the outer planets and leave the solar system) featured gold-anodized aluminium plaques designed by Carl Sagan. These plaques show illustrations of nude men and women to represent the human race, as well as other information, in case the spacecrafts were ever intercepted by extraterrestrial life.

Carl Sagan holding the Pioneer plaque. Credit: www.daviddarling.info

Apollo 11—probably the most famous space mission of all—included a plaque that was bolted onto the lower part of the Eagle Lunar Module. This landing stage still sits on the Moon and can even be seen in modern-day Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter Camera images.

The landing stage of Apollo 11's Eagle Lunar Module can still be seen in images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. The flight hardware is at the centre of this image, with its shadow to the left. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

The Apollo 11 plaque reads as follows:

Here Men from the Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon

July 1969 A.D.

We Came in Peace for all Mankind

Apollo 11 plaque attached to the ladder of the Lunar Module. Credit: NASA

But another, much less formal, but equally enduring and touching message was left also on the Moon by the astronaut Gene Cernan. Cernan was the commander of Apollo 17 and the last man—to date—to have walked on the Moon. He writes in his autobiography of the small way in which he honoured his daughter during his final moments on the lunar surface:

"... I drove the Rover about a mile away from the LM [Lunar Module] and parked it carefully so the television camera could photograph our takeoff the next day. As I dismounted, I took a moment to kneel and with a single finger, scratched Tracy's initials, T D C, in the lunar dust, knowing those three letters would remain there undisturbed for more years than anyone could imagine."

Just this week, NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft has entered into orbit around Mars. This mission will be the first to study the upper atmosphere of the Red Planet, and how it has evolved with time. As part of the mission's education and public outreach activities, the University of Colorado ran a public competition. In this contest, people young and old were invited to write a haiku that could be sent along with the poet's name onboard MAVEN to Mars. This type of programme is a great way to inspire children to think about science—and poetry—and I even submitted an entry myself.

MAVEN, you raven

pray, tell, with your expert ways

is Mars life's haven?

This was actually my first attempt at haiku, and I thought not a bad first effort. It even gained the approval of my talented poet friend who had first brought the competition to my attention. Unfortunately, however, it didn't make the final cut. The winners can be read here, and my favourite is probably this one by Greg Pruett:

distant red planet

the dreams of earth beings flow

we will someday roam

I haven't picked a piece of Earth today to represent our planet to unknown aliens, but these poems, plaques, and traced initials are all beautiful examples of the ways in which we humans try to communicate our place in the universe. As MAVEN starts its orbital mission, I hope it succeeds in unraveling some of Mars' atmospheric mysteries. Perhaps we will learn if our planetary neighbour could ever have supported intelligent life, and what caused its evolution to diverge so drastically from that of our own Earth.

Artist's conception of the MAVEN spacecraft in orbit around Mars. Credit: NASA/Goddard