Messages to travel through time, space

Messages to travel through time, space

By Lim Tri Santosa

BANDUNG (JP): When I was eight years old, I watched a
documentary about a bunch of archaeologists who discovered some
hieroglyphics in Egypt. I was immediately inspired. I gathered my
metal lunch box, filled with 5 rupiah and 10 rupiah coins, a list
of my best friends ranked in order, my "cute" photo and my best
socks and handkerchief, which I was sure constituted a scientific
breakthrough. I then stuffed these treasures into a plastic bag
and buried my "time capsule" under roughly three inches of dirt
for future generations to find.

I lied to my mom that I lost my lunch box when I was playing
with my friends. My time capsule remained hidden for an entire 24
hours before my mother discovered I had no socks to wear to
Sunday school.

So, not all of my projects have been a ringing success. Still,
time capsules are a great way to record a special moment in
history. And whether you have decided to celebrate the new
millennium this year or the next, I say there is no better time
to reflect on the past, speculate about the future or document
questionable fashion trends than now.

That said, making a time capsule can be a lot of fun,
especially if several people contribute to its contents. This
makes it a perfect project for classes, families or a group of
friends, and a great excuse to plan a 10 or 20 year reunion. What
if you could write a note today and have it delivered to the
future inhabitants of Earth 50,000 years from now. Absolutely
mind-boggling, isn't it?

Yet that is exactly what the KEO project headed by French
artist Jean-Marc Philippe, who began the work in 1994, aims to
achieve.

Will Earth still be inhabited 50,000 years from now? A French
organization thinks so. In fact, it is confident enough to send
those future dwellers a gift from space. The KEO satellite,
expected to be launched in 2001, will fly high above the Earth
with messages from as many humans as possible, possibly well into
the billions, according to project managers in Paris.

After traveling for 50 millennia in orbit, the satellite will
return to the planet, delivering CD-ROM messages from KEO
participants. To name their satellite project, supporters
researched the most frequent phonemes in major world languages
and came up with "K", "E" and "O." A phoneme is the smallest
phonetic unit in a language that is capable of conveying a
distinction in meaning.

Anyone can submit a message at no cost to KEO via e-mail
(www.keo.org). Ranging from schoolchildren to prisoners, people
from more than 120 countries (including Indonesia) have already
submitted missives for the future, according to the Paris-based
non-profit group. The messages are uncensored and remain in their
original language, but must not exceed 6,000 characters in
length.

Not wired? No problem. You can send your KEO message via
regular mail to KEO at 65bis, Boulevard Brune, 75014 Paris,
France. The project is also looking into ways to collect messages
from people who cannot read or write.

Why launch the messages into outer space? Because space
appeals more to the human imagination. Furthermore, complications
would have arisen over the question of where and in what country
the messages would be buried, whereas space belongs to everyone.

KEO will also carry a few symbolic offerings that will be more
lively and easily understood. A view of today's Earth engraved on
the satellite's internal spherical envelope so that it will be
immediately visible to KEO's finders. It will depict the contours
of seas and continents. At the core of the satellite, portraits
of men, women and children, representative of the various races
at the dawn of the third millennium, which will tend to blend
together with future generations. An artificial diamond will hold
precious gifts: a sample of sea water, a sample of the air we
breathe, a sample of human blood and some fertile soil, attesting
to the present state of the key elements without which we would
not exist.

KEO is designed to soar to 1,400 kilometers above Earth. As a
passive satellite, it will come back to its native soil
responding to the pressure of solar radiation, the lunar and
planetary attraction, the laws of ballistics and the slowing
effect generated by Earth's atmosphere. To ensure the safe return
of its payload, it needs an extremely resistant body. Its strong
external envelope, made from several distinct Titanium shells,
will protect it from the dangers of a long flight in space's
hostile environment. The wings should open and close as they pass
between sunlight and darkness, using only natural solar power.
Should KEO land in an ocean it will float.

KEO is what we would call a "passive" capsule. Once it has
been launched into orbit, we can no longer contact it. The choice
of a passive capsule was dictated by the length of time it would
be in orbit. Working parts permitting communication would over
time have undergone an unforeseeable decomposition, thus
endangering the future of the capsule itself.

Even if KEO survives, how will future intelligent beings
understand the perhaps billions of messages inscribed on the CD-
ROMs? The satellite will include a "user manual", with
instructions on how to construct a CD-ROM player.

Beyond the technological challenges, this project must also
take up the challenge of giving everyone an equal chance to
participate in this collective endeavor, despite differences in
communications infrastructure and in literacy levels among the
Earth's population.

Yet, I still have one doubt, which reminds me of an
interesting question: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is
there to hear it, does it still make a sound? Uhm ... , never
mind. You still have plenty of time before the 2001 to write down
your autobiography and submit it to KEO. The future looks forward
to hearing your story.