In 1977, NASA launched Voyagers 1 and 2. Along with scientific instruments, the probes contained golden disks with images to help aliens understand our world and our civilization:
But that was in 1977, when we were still underdeveloped and primitive, and NASA’s associate administrator for diversity and equal opportunity, Stephen T. Shih, has announced that the probes will be retrieved, refitted with updated images, and relaunched.
We now know that there are some 64 different genders. The original depiction, showing only two genders, is an embarrassment to our civilization. It could also put us in danger; aliens that discover the image might conclude that we are too brutish and ignorant for this galaxy. The result might be our destruction.
Furthermore, the couple appear to be Caucasian, and this is problematic. There’s no doubt that any civilization advanced enough to discover our probe would be African American, and the last thing we want to do is trigger them.
We now have the technology to complete this mission, though it won’t come cheap. Cost estimates vary from half a trillion dollars to over a trillion. President Biden has already indicated that he would authorize funds, announcing on Friday, “This is… (inaudible) the utmost importance… (inaudible).”
And not even April 1.