50 years ago, Earth’s chances of contacting E.T. looked slim

Excerpt from the February 24, 1973 issue of Science News

A photo of the Golden Record and its cover from the Voyager spacecraft.

Should aliens ever encounter NASA’s Voyager spacecraft, they’ll find the Golden Record (left, cover shown right), which is packed with sounds and images of Earth.

JPL-Caltech/NASA

The chances of contacting extraterrestrial civilizations seem poorScience News, February 24, 1973

The possibility of life … on other planets has stimulated many people’s i­maginations…. In the Feb.