Voyager spacecraft: what will it teach the universe about mankind? Encoded on the disk in a phonographic record format are sounds and images from Earth. So what will Voyager reveal to the universe about mankind: Human technology Voyager 1 and its twin Voyager 2 were launched in the late 1970s. The technology they carry is more than 36 years old. In fact, the entire computing power that has navigated Voyager 1 over its 11.6 billion mile journey from Earth can now be found inside an iPhone. For any space-faring alien life that stumble across the spacecraft, this may paint a fairly primitive picture of life on Earth. However, they would also be able to calculate from the Voyager's speed and trajectory, exactly how long it has been travelling for, and so will perhaps realise we have advanced. The first human contact Among the many images and sounds carried on the golden disks on Voyager 1 and 2 is a recording of the brain waves of a human being. The electrical activity produced by the brain of Ann Druyan, an author and television producer, has been stored on the disks in a minute long soundtrack that consists of a string of crackles and pops. Miss Druyan was the creative director of the Voyager Interstellar Message Project, which she was working on with Dr Carl Sagan, the American astronomer who led the project. While putting together the disks, the pair fell in love and some of the electrical activity is of her thinking about the moment the pair decided to marry. She said she wanted the record to carry a message of her feelings of having fallen in love. She also read from a script that recited philosophical ideas and discussed key moments in history. Speaking about the recording, she said: "We created a message that could potentially last for a thousand million years. The most audacious and ambitious attempt ever made at being remembered, and show who we really are, is on that spacecraft, bound for a future that we can only dream about. People often ask me, 'What will the extraterrestrials, should they exist, think of us if they encounter the record? They will encounter that spacecraft first and that will tell them so much about us. Ni hao! Bonjour! Merhaba! Greetings from around the world The disks also include greetings and messages in 55 languages. Among them are a message in Welsh and six now extinct tongues. The Welsh message translates to say: "Good health to you now and forever." The Chinese greeting invites those who find the disk to come and visit, while others give directions as to where we are. Perhaps the most elaborate greeting is in Amoy, a dialect of Min Nan, which is spoken in parts of China and Taiwan. It says: "Friends of space, how are you all? Have you eaten yet? Come visit us if you have time. Sounds of human life Among the audio recordings are the sounds of footsteps across a polished floor, a human heartbeat and someone laughing. There is also the sound of a couple kissing and a mother with her child. The recordings are designed to give an insight into some of the most natural sounds produced by humans during our lives. Other sounds on board include the sound of thunder, volcanoes erupting, an earthquake, wind, rain and waves breaking on a beach. Animals sounds of a chimpanzee, a hyena, birds, crickets, frogs and elephants are also included. Other human activities such as a horse pulling a cart, a blacksmith at work, sawing and someone herding sheep are also included. To give an idea of what humans are capable of, morse code, the sound of a tractor, a train, bus, boats and car, along with an F-111 aircraft flying by and a Saturn 5 rocket taking off, are all included. More primal sounds from human history are also included, such as a fire and the first tools being used. What little green men might make of this collage of sounds from Earth is hard to say. Music from Earth A range of music was chosen by nations from around the world and was included on the Voyager record. The German's chose a four minute clip from Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No 2 in F while Australia included some Aborigine songs including one called Morning Star. The British contribution was The Faerie Round by Anthony Holborne. From Russia, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring was recorded while the US contributed Melancholy Blues by Louis Armstrong and Dark was the Night by Blind Willie Johnson. There are also some Peruvian panpipe music and traditional music from Georgia and new Guinea. The book of life Among the pictures electronically encoded onto the disk are a couple that reveal the structure of DNA - the molecule found in every living cell that encodes life. Whether alien life would have similar DNA or be based on molecules that are somewhat different is still a matter that is greatly debated. These images, however, will reveal the molecular basis for life here on Earth. Other images show cells and cell division while aliens would also be given a lesson in human anatomy and reproduction from some of the other images carried. We are here Another image on the disk is map showing the location of our solar system. There are also images of the planets taken by Nasa spacecraft. There are some images of the Earth too, including a close-up of the River Nile as it winds its way through Egypt. There are several pictures of landscapes on Earth including Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef along with pictures of forest scenes, sand dunes, fallen leaves and snowflakes. Pictures of animals such as dolphins, fish, tree toads and eagles are included, while images of humans including Jane Goodall with some chimps also feature. Snapshots of everyday lives make up the bulk of the images, including an elderly man, a mountain climber, a gymnast and a Chinese dinner party. Take me to your leader Perhaps one of the most helpful images to be included for any alien life forms wanting to get in touch with some Earthlings is a series of images of the UN building in New York at night and during the day. Great landmarks such as the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Sydney Opera House are also included. Let's hope that whatever finds the disks are not hostile, otherwise these may become the first targets they attack. Interestingly the White House was not one of the images included.