Did you know that there is a satellite that orbits our planet and is set to crash-land on Earth in 8 million years? Its mission may surprise you. NASA has created satellites called LAGEOS or Laser Geodynamics Satellites, which are basically scientific satellites that study our planet. The LAGEOS satellite orbits our planet so that it can be seen from several ground stations around the world. LAGEOS design is beautiful.
The spacecraft is composed of aluminum-covered brass spheres with a diameter of 60 cm, the satellite is covered with 426 cube-corner retroreflectors which makes the Satellite look literally like a giant golf ball. LAGEOS does not have any board sensors or electronics, and are not attitude-controlled. Its primary mission isn’t that of carrying a message to the future inhabitants of our planet, but rather studying and monitoring its development. The main goal of the satellites is the accurately measure the satellites position in respect to our planet, determine Earth’s shape and study the tectonic movements which are associated with continental drift.
The ground stations that are looking out for LAGEOS are in USA, China, France, Poland, Italy, Japan, Australia, Mexico and Peru. But what makes this satellite so important? Well, the satellite is set to crash-land on our planet in 8 million years, carrying a special message to anyone that will inhabit our planet in the distant future. The message carried by LAGEOS are three different maps of Earth: One that is 268 million years old, one showing how Earth looks today and another map will show how the planet will look like in the future. But who will inhabit our planet in 8 million years? Humans? Aliens? Or will life cease to exist on planet Earth?
Imagine that life “reboots” on our planet as it is believed to have happened millions of years ago. Primitive man are inhabiting the planet and a weird sphere crash-lands on the planet. What would these “future” beings think the device is? Would they associate the LAGEOS satellite to celestial deities and gods? Perhaps like our ancestors did thousands of years ago. If we have placed such a device into orbit around our planet, would it be weird if another species had done the same? And is it possible that there is written evidence of such devices in ancient texts and depictions found around the world?
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| The LAGEOS plaque, designed by Carl Sagan |