IN 1977 TWO SPACECRAFT VOYAGER 1 AND VOYAGER 2 WERE LAUNCED TO STUDY THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND INFORM EXTRATERRESTRIAL OF HUMANITY AS RECORDED FROM THE 1970 DECADE AND AFTER 39 YEARS THE MESSAGE RECORDED ON GOLDEN DISK NEEDS AN UPDATE TO THE PROGRESS OF HUMANITY - AS THE SPACECRAFT HAVE TRAVELLED 20 BILLION KILOMETERS FROM EARTH SPEEDING AWAY FROM THE SUN SOLAR SYSTEM

When the Voyager twin spacecrafts set out in the 1970s they took with them a snapshot of life on Earth in the hope that aliens might one day happen upon the probes and gain a small glimpse into humanity.

Specially created gold records were placed on board, encoded with information about our history, geography, maths, physics, our greatest musical compositions and even the sound of someone falling in love.

Now, nearly four decades later scientists believe that enough has changed on our planet to warrant an update. They want to inform extra-terrestrials about the rise of the Internet, the doubling of Earth's population and our fears about climate change.

Prof Chris Reilly, a professor of science and media and Lincoln University, has calculated that it is possible to harness the remaining power from Voyager to upload a new message. But there is a problem. The floating time capsules are now 20 billion kilometres away and may even have left the Solar System. They are also low on fuel meaning that any new message cannot be bigger than 1,000 characters and must be decided soon while it still possible to communicate with the craft. Scientists will get just one shot.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/11938568/Earth-to-send-final-postcard-to-Voyager.html