Will the Voyager Golden Record disintegrate in space?

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@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.

[Rocketeer]

@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?

[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.

[billfish678]

@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?

[Stranger_On_A_Train]

@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

[Captain_Awesome]

@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.

[dtilque]

@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.

[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.

[Icerigger]

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.

[Merijeek]

@Stranger_On_A_Train

The Ice Pirates?

“V”?

(curse you all!)

-Joe

[Merijeek]

@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

[The_Tao_s_Revenge]

@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.

[HorseloverFat]

>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.

[Yllaria]

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.

[Captain_Carrot]

@billfish678

Which Star Trek is that?

I have no idea. I think TNG, but I could easily be wrong.