What Are the Contents of the Golden Record? The Voyager Golden Record: Its Contents NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) (founded 1958) Record made 1977; NASA description Cold Library · Open Stacks · S-008006 · https://coldlibrary.com/s/008006 Rights: A work of NASA, the United States space agency, and so a US federal government work, which is not subject to copyright (17 U.S.C. § 105). The record’s pictures and recordings are not reproduced here; many of them are under copyright, as NASA notes. Checked for the United States as of 11 October 2026. Guidance, not legal advice. Source: NASA Science, Voyager: Golden Record, https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/golden-record-contents/ (retrieved 2026-10-11) Generated 2026-10-14 from https://coldlibrary.com/en/open-stacks/golden-record-contents ---- What are the contents of the Golden Record? The contents of the record were selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University, et. al. Dr. Sagan and his associates assembled 115 images and a variety of natural sounds, such as those made by surf, wind and thunder, birds, whales, and other animals. To this they added musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings from Earth-people in fifty-five languages, and printed messages from President Carter and U.N. Secretary General Waldheim. Each record is encased in a protective aluminum jacket, together with a cartridge and a needle. Instructions, in symbolic language, explain the origin of the spacecraft and indicate how the record is to be played. The 115 images are encoded in analog form. The remainder of the record is in audio, designed to be played at 16-2/3 revolutions per minute. It contains the spoken greetings, beginning with Akkadian, which was spoken in Sumer about six thousand years ago, and ending with Wu, a modern Chinese dialect. Following the section on the sounds of Earth, there is an eclectic 90-minute selection of music, including both Eastern and Western classics and a variety of ethnic music. Once the Voyager spacecraft leave the solar system, they will find themselves in empty space. It will be forty thousand years before they make a close approach to any other planetary system. Music from Earth The following music was included on the Voyager record. - Germany. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F. First Movement. Munich Bach Orchestra, Karl Richter, conductor. 4:40 - Java. Court gamelan, "Kinds of Flowers." Recorded by Robert Brown. 4:43 - Senegal. Percussion. Recorded by Charles Duvelle. 2:08 - Zaire. Pygmy girls' initiation song. Recorded by Colin Turnbull. 0:56 - Australia. Aborigine songs, "Morning Star" and "Devil Bird." Recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes. 1:26 - Mexico. "El Cascabel." Performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi México. 3:14 - United States. "Johnny B. Goode." Written and performed by Chuck Berry. 2:38 - New Guinea. Men's house song. Recorded by Robert MacLennan. 1:20 - Japan. Shakuhachi, "Tsuru No Sugomori" ("Crane's Nest"). Performed by Goro Yamaguchi. 4:51 - Germany. Bach, "Gavotte en rondeaux" from the Partita No. 3 in E major for Violin. Performed by Arthur Grumiaux. 2:55 - Austria. Mozart, The Magic Flute, Queen of the Night aria, no. 14. Edda Moser, soprano. Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor. 2:55 - Georgia. Georgian S.S.R., chorus, "Tchakrulo." Collected by Radio Moscow. 2:18 - Peru. Panpipes and drum. Collected by Casa de la Cultura, Lima. 0:52 - United States. "Melancholy Blues." Performed by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven. 3:05 - Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan S.S.R., bagpipes. Recorded by Radio Moscow. 2:30 - Russia. Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, Sacrificial Dance. Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, conductor. 4:35 - Germany. Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, Prelude and Fugue in C, No. 1. Glenn Gould, piano. 4:48 - Germany. Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, First Movement. The Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor. 7:20 - Bulgaria. "Izlel je Delyo Hagdutin." Sung by Valya Balkanska. 4:59 - United States. Navajo Indians, Night Chant. Recorded by Willard Rhodes. 0:57 - United Kingdom. Holborne, Paueans, Galliards, Almains and Other Short Aeirs, "The Fairie Round." Performed by David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London. 1:17 - Solomon Islands. Panpipes. Collected by the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service. 1:12 - Peru. Wedding song. Recorded by John Cohen. 0:38 - China. Ch'in, "Flowing Streams." Performed by Kuan P'ing-hu. 7:37 - India. Raga, "Jaat Kahan Ho." Sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar. 3:30 - United States. "Dark Was the Night." Written and performed by Blind Willie Johnson. 3:15 - Germany. Beethoven, String Quartet No. 13 in B flat, Opus 130, Cavatina. Performed by Budapest String Quartet. 6:37 Making of the Voyager Golden Record Many people were instrumental in the design, development and manufacturing of the golden record. - Blank records were provided by the Pyral S.A. of Creteil, France. - CBS Records contracted the JVC Cutting Center in Boulder, Colorado to cut the lacquer masters which were then sent to the James G. Lee Record Processing center in Gardena, California to cut and gold plate eight Voyager records. - Gold plating took place on August 23, 1977; afterward, the records were mounted in aluminum containers and delivered to JPL. - The record is constructed of gold-plated copper and is 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter. The record's cover is aluminum and electroplated upon it is an ultra-pure sample of the isotope uranium-238. Uranium-238 has a half-life of 4.468 billion years. - The records also had the inscription "To the makers of music – all worlds, all times" hand-etched on its surface.