Humanity’s Message To The Stars (HMTS)

What is HMTS?

In 1977 NASA launched Voyager 1 and 2 and began their historic journey into interstellar space, with both containing a type of "time capsule" aboard. The Gold Disk record included extraterrestrial instructions for any intelligent being to be able to hopefully read the messages and compilations of various sounds, images and greetings as well as basic images etched into its gold plating.

While this was an iconic start, our vision is to update and innovate the way in which extraterrestrials may receive and decipher such an object if or when it was to ever be found. We have an enormous goal of collecting and encompassing all of mankind's current and future goals into one unified message. We are doing this by-

  • Advancing current astrophysics scientific understanding via peer-reviewed published works

  • Working with researchers from various domains to share ideas and investigate current and past understanding and knowledge gaps.

  • Using outreach such as workshops, presentations and interviews to the scientific community and broader public

Even if the message does not reach any other intelligent civilizations, we believe this work can serve as a stepping stone to begin discussing and understanding the link between humans on Earth. What makes us unique to other lifeforms? What common cultural threads do we share as humans and how do we use that to promote peace? What challenges will we face in the future that could potentially annihilate our civilization? What would it take for us to propel humankind into the Solar System and beyond?

The answers to these grand questions are challenging and rife with opinion, but are ultimately what is needed if we have a chance at not only maintaining society but expanding humankind. We are optimistic that "Humanity’s Message To The Stars" can begin these tough conversations and serve as a positive influence in the world.

About Dr. Jonathan Jiang

Dr. Jonathan Jiang is a Research Scientist and Principal Investigator for aerosol, cloud and water vapor studies at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. Dr. Jonathan Jiang earned a B.Sc. of Astrophysics in 1985 from Beijing Normal University; a M.Sc. of Astrophysics in 1991 and a Ph.D. of Atmospheric Physics in 1996, both from York University in Canada. Prior to coming to JPL in 1999, he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at McGill University and a Research Associate at University of Quebec at Montreal. Dr. Jiang received a NASA Space Act Award in 2005 for developing the microwave cloud forward model for Aura MLS project and the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2010 for pioneering a new approach to quantifying the impact of air pollution on clouds and climate through combining observations from multiple NASA satellites. Dr. Jiang is the President of COAA Southern California Chapter. He also serves as an Associate Editor for JGR-Atmospheres.