Produced by: Tarun Mishra Designed by: Manoj Kumar
NASA is planning to launch the Europa Clipper Mission to Jupiter's moon Europa in October, accompanied by a unique coded message recorded in various languages, including Hindi.
Europa has displayed compelling evidence of a subsurface ocean beneath its icy shell, containing more than twice the water volume of Earth's oceans combined.
The spacecraft will carry a 7 by 11-inch plate made of tantalum, engraved with a message in 103 languages, including Hindi, emphasizing the planet's connection to water.
Linguists collected recordings of the word "water" spoken in different languages worldwide, converted into waveforms etched onto the plate, radiating from a symbol representing the American Sign Language sign for "water." In Hindi, the word is "Paani"
The message concept has drawn inspiration from the golden record sent aboard the Voyager mission, which journeyed beyond the Solar System into interstellar space.
Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA, has underscored the significance of the message, highlighting its representation of humanity's collective knowledge and exploration efforts.
In addition to the linguistic plate, the spacecraft will carry an engraving of a poem by US Poet Laureate Ada Limón, along with a silicon microchip inscribed with over 2.6 million names from people worldwide.
The primary objective of the Europa Clipper Mission is to investigate whether conditions conducive to life exist beneath Europa's surface, advancing our understanding of the potential habitability of distant celestial bodies.