NASA’s Voyager 2 probe, currently on a journey toward interstellar space, has detected an increase in cosmic rays that originate outside our solar system. Voyager 1 entered interstellar space in September 2013.
Dark was the night, cold was the ground
“Dark was the night, cold was the ground”,
‘Blind’ Willie Johnson’s blues,
together with the Navajo’s nocturnal song
and the Ann Druyan’s heartbeat
have already crossed the Kuiper Belt.
-The NASA announced that Voyager 1
had dropped out the heliopause, leaving the Solar System-.
Homeless in the Milky Way,
clothed only by ionized gas,
DNA schemes and laws of Newton
his cosmic lethargy sleep
in the grooves of the Voyager golden record
with others ‘greatest hits’ of the Planet.
I hear the groan of the guitar
while darkening in this part of the Earth
and summer is weakened, as the sign of the Voyager.
The waning moon
and the wail of ‘Blind’ on the streets of Beaumont
moves towards the Oort cloud,
—in 40,000 years approaching the Giraffe constellation —
Among strumming and strum,
review inventory wandering in the abyss
and tries to explain “to whom it may concern”
continental drift, the evolution of vertebrates
or damned city traffic at rush hour.
On the cover,
a description Earth’s location in the Galaxy,
a hydrogen atom,
and instructions for use and handling of the disc
“Dark was the night, cold was the ground”
A underdog blues at the border
Deep voice push out into deep space
fragile messenger, “a rough road leads to the stars”
Elena Soto
The contents of the record were selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University, et. al. Dr. Sagan and his associates assembled 115 images and a variety of natural sounds, such as those made by surf, wind and thunder, birds, whales, and other animals. To this they added musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings from Earth-people in fifty-five languages, and printed messages from President Carter and U.N. Secretary General Waldheim.
Among the 27 songs selected for the Voyager Golden Record, «Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground» was chosen by NASA consultant Timothy Ferris[40] because, according to Ferris, «Johnson’s song concerns a situation he faced many times: nightfall with no place to sleep. Since humans appeared on Earth, the shroud of night has yet to fall without touching a man or woman in the same plight».[40] Johnson’s recording of «Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground» was also selected by the Library of Congress as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry, which selects recordings annually that are deemed «culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant»»Dark Was the Night,» written and performed by Blind Willie Johnson. 3:15
Acoplado a un costado de las naves, viaja el disco de oro de las Voyager “Sonidos de la Tierra”. Entre los temas musicales enviados al Cosmos está la canción ‘Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground‘, (Oscura era la noche, fría estaba la Tierra) de Blind Willie Johnson.
Oscura era la noche, fría estaba la Tierra
“Oscura era la noche, fría estaba la Tierra”,
el blues de ‘Blind’ Willie Johnson,
junto con el canto nocturno de los navajos
y los latidos del corazón de Ann Druyan
ya han cruzado el Cinturón de Kuiper.
—La NASA anunció que la Voyager 1
dejaba atrás la heliopausa, abandonando el Sistema Solar—.
Desamparados en la Vía Láctea,
arropados tan solo por gas ionizado,
los esquemas de ADN y las leyes de Newton
duermen su letargo cósmico
en los surcos del disco de oro de la Voyager
con otros ‘grandes éxitos’ del Planeta.
Escucho el gemido de la guitarra
mientras oscurece en esta parte de la Tierra,
y el verano se debilita, como la señal de la Voyager.
La luna mengua,
y el lamento de ‘Blind’ en las calles de Beaumont,
se desplaza hacia la nube de Oort,
—en unos 40.000 años se aproximará a la constelación de la Jirafa—.
Entre rasgueo y rasgueo,
repaso el inventario que vaga en el abismo
y que intenta explicar “a quién corresponda”
la deriva continental, la evolución de los vertebrados
o el endemoniado tráfico de una ciudad en hora punta.
En la carátula,
una descripción del lugar de nuestro planeta en la Galaxia,
un átomo de hidrógeno
y las instrucciones de uso y manejo del disco.
“Dark was the night, cold was the ground”
(Oscura era la noche, fría estaba la Tierra),
Un blues desvalido en la frontera.
Voz profunda adentrándose en el espacio profundo,
mensajera frágil “en el áspero camino hacia las estrellas”.
Lanzada en 1977, la Voyager 2 está a unos 17.700 millones de kilómetros de la Tierra. La NASA ha detectado un aumento en las mediciones de rayos cósmicos que impactan en la sonda. Señales que indican que la ‘Voyager 2’ podría estar saliendo del Sistema Solar.