# Will the Voyager Golden Record disintegrate in space? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 24, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535 "2009-08-24T18:40:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/21 "2009-08-25T18:18:56Z")
> [@Icerigger](#): > > The **New Horizons** spacecraft is on it’s way to Pluto and will leave the solar system as well, I wonder if there is any kind of message like the Voyagers & Pioneers? Being only the 5th interstellar mission I find it hard to believe there was no effort to inculde some kind of marker. From Wiki: _In addition to the scientific equipment, there are several cultural artifacts travelling with the spacecraft. These include a collection of 434,738 names stored on a compact disc, a piece of Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne, and an American flag, along with other mementos. One of the trim weights on the spacecraft is a Florida state quarter, and principal investigator Alan Stern has also confirmed that some of the ashes of Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh are aboard the spacecraft._ ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/22 "2009-08-25T18:36:03Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Assuming the record remains protected within the chassis of the Voyager vehicle and isn’t subjected to some mysterious massive source of neutron radiation or a cloud of high velocity dust, the natural decay rate of protons and confined neutrons is somewhere betweeen 10[/sup]36[/sup] seconds and never. I don’t know where the astronomer cited in the o.p. got his information, but assuming that the answer was provided in context, he is completely off base. > Stranger How about sublimation of the gold, evaporating off into the vacuum? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/23 "2009-08-25T20:26:21Z")
Incidentally, in Star Trek they had a competition relating to the Voyager plaque. Representatives from many different species tried to translate it. Not even the Vulcans managed to decipher anything there, if I recall correctly. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/24 "2009-08-25T21:51:18Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Incidentally, in Star Trek they had a competition relating to the Voyager plaque. Representatives from many different species tried to translate it. Not even the Vulcans managed to decipher anything there, if I recall correctly. Which Star Trek is that? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/25 "2009-08-25T22:21:10Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > How about sublimation of the gold, evaporating off into the vacuum? Virtually insignificant, even over billions of years. Without a thermal radiation source (the RTG will be almost completely inert lead inside of a few million years) almost no atom will move, and the lack of reactivity with other substances means that even solid state migration will be negligible. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Captain\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Awesome)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/26 "2009-08-26T00:49:03Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > From Wiki: > > \*In addition to the scientific equipment, there are several cultural artifacts travelling with the spacecraft. These include a collection of 434,738 names stored on a compact disc… \* Oh fantastic, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will be so pleased. They’d been at a loss as to what happened to [them](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_of_United_Kingdom_child_benefit_data_%282007%29). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/27 "2009-08-26T08:00:06Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Assuming the record remains protected within the chassis of the Voyager vehicle and isn’t subjected to some mysterious massive source of neutron radiation or a cloud of high velocity dust, the natural decay rate of protons and confined neutrons is somewhere betweeen 10[sup]36[/sup] seconds and never. The entire probe should be dust long before 10[sup]36[/sup] seconds. Cosmic radiation weakens metal. After a long enough time, the metal of the probe will be so fragile that an impact with a dust particle will be enough to crumble it into itty-bitty pieces. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/28 "2009-08-26T19:04:10Z")
A better reason not to send naked pictures of ourselves into outer space… is that humans are not naturally naked. Yes, we’re born that way, but humans are ingrained to create and wear clothing. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/29 "2009-08-26T19:12:03Z")
I must add it has been 32 years since these probes have been launched and they are still operational, 32 years!! The JPL people must really be proud. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/30 "2009-08-26T22:11:46Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > _[The Ice Pirates](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087451/)_? “V”? (curse you all!) -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/31 "2009-08-26T22:15:11Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > A better reason not to send naked pictures of ourselves into outer space… is that humans are not naturally naked. Yes, we’re born that way, but humans are ingrained to create and wear clothing. You’re right. They should have put togas on the picture. Wait, this is aliens we’re talking about. They should have had everyone in shiny silver jumpsuits with large lapels. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/32 "2009-08-26T22:41:03Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > A better reason not to send naked pictures of ourselves into outer space… is that humans are not naturally naked. Yes, we’re born that way, but humans are ingrained to create and wear clothing. Do you have a cite for this? It seems to be more social trained, a relic of religious prohibitions, to me. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/33 "2009-08-26T22:54:17Z")
\>Yes, we’re born that way, but humans are ingrained to create and wear clothing. The pictures are accurate medical descriptions of our bodies. Humans are also naturally either sleeping, working, warring, or fucking, but we chose them to just stand there naked and look vaguely friendly. I can imagine putting little shorts on them only to find aliens scratching their heads when they finally meet us. Many alien PhDs will lose face after their “Humans: Reproduction without Genitals” papers become discredited. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/34 "2009-08-26T23:20:02Z")
In ST:TMP, a Voyager melded with a larger robot probe and came back to get us. In (I think) ST:5, a probe with the gold record on it was blown up by a Klingon captain for target practice. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535/35 "2009-08-26T23:20:02Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Which Star Trek is that? I have no idea. I think TNG, but I could easily be wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-voyager-golden-record-disintegrate-in-space/507535.md?page=1)