The Cosmic Connection

The next area to the right deals with one of the topics that fascinated Carl Sagan the most: the idea of extraterrestrial life. His book ‘The Cosmic Connection’, the first he worked with Jon Lomberg on, dealt with this subject. Seen here is a replica of the ‘Golden Record from the Voyager probes’. The mission of these probes was to explore the furthest planets in our solar system, and then lose themselves forever in the vastness of interstellar space.

Sagan decided to include on the probes a record with information about life on earth and the human species, in case these artefacts might one day be recovered by a far-flung civilisation who happened upon them lost in space. They are like our message in a bottle, thrown into an immense sea. Lomberg was the project’s artistic director. Here you can see some of the many photos and drawings that were included on the golden record as a message from humanity to the stars.

Carl Sagan was one of the founders of the SETI Institute and the Planetary Society. In this display case, the Planetary Society’s first logo can be seen, designed by Job Lomberg.