發照片做外星人認識的第一個地球人

NASA wants to send your messages to aliens.

美國國家航空航天局想要將你的消息發給外星人。

Back in the 1970s the Voyager 1 probe was sent out into space containing a record of images and words selected by Carl Sagan and others. That craft has now almost certainly left our solar system, and the message in a bottle (or rather a golden record in a space craft) is heading merrily on its way through interstellar space.

上世紀70年代，攜帶了一張唱片的旅行者一號探測器被髮射到太空，唱片中刻有由天文學家卡爾·薩根等人挑選的圖片和留言。目前，該探測器已經幾乎要飛離太陽系，瓶中信（其實是太空飛行器內的一張金質唱片）正輕快的飛向星際空間。

And now NASA wants to try it again - even though the craft on which it will place its messages is already 300 million miles from Earth.

現在，美國國家航空航天局想要再試一次——儘管信息的載體飛行器已經遠離地球3億英里。

That craft is New Horizons, a deep space probe heading to Pluto to study its moons and the dwarf planet itself.

這具飛行器叫新地平線號。這具深空探測器正飛往冥王星去研究這顆矮行星以及它的衛星。

Though it launched in 2006, New Horizons will not reach Pluto until the summer of 2015, at which point it will start to collect data on everything it sees.

儘管新地平線號於2006年發射，但它在2015年夏天前都不會到達冥王星。屆時它將開始收集它見到的一切信息。

But after that - once the craft continues on its path away from the Sun - there's not much more it can do.

但那之後，當新地平線號繼續它的飛離太陽之旅時，已經再沒有太多的事情可做了。

Or is there? Space artist and journalist Jon Lomberg, who was also involved in putting together the Voyager 1 record, has argued that since the craft will still be contactable from Earth, Nasa should fill its memory banks with messages and data from our planet. Just as with Voyager 1, the idea is that in the (unlikely) situation in which an alien species finds the probe, it might be nice to say hello.

或許事實並非如此。由於屆時新地平線號仍能夠和地球保持聯繫，太空藝術家和記者喬恩·隆伯格主張美國國家航空航天局應該用來自地球的信息和數據裝滿飛行器的存儲空間。喬恩本人曾參與製作旅行者一號的唱片。和旅行者一號一樣，這個主意未必能讓外星物種發現探測器，但和它們打個招呼倒是不錯。

Last year he launched a petition to make it happen, and launched an independent group ('New Horizons Message Initiative') to collect the message.

去年他發起了一個請願來實現這個主意，還組織了一個叫做“新地平線信息倡議”的團體來收集消息。

And now Nasa has agreed! Last month Nasa said that it would do exactly as the group asked, and is now working on ways for anyone to submit their messages in the form of audio, video or just words.

現在美國國家航空航天局同意了這一計劃。他們表示完全同意該團體的請願，並致力於讓任何人都能夠提交自己的信息——無論是聲音，視頻，或僅僅是文字。

"For almost 40 years, people have been inspired by the Voyager record, a portrait of the Earth in 1977," Lomberg told .

隆伯格告訴，“差不多40年以來，人們都被旅行者號的唱片所鼓舞，那是地球在1977年的肖像。”

"The world is very different now, and this new message will reflect the hopes and dreams of the second decade in the 21st century. It will inspire young people's interest in science and ignite the imagination of all ages. We hope it will be an example of global creativity and cooperation."

“如今世界已經大不一樣。這個新消息將反映21世紀第二個十年裏的希望和夢想。它將激發年輕人對科學的興趣，還能激起所有人的想象。我們希望它能成爲全球創新與合作的一個範例。”