Morse code beyond the solar system

The two Voyager probes, launched in 1977, are now in interstellar space beyond our solar system. Each carries a Golden Record, a recording of sounds and encoded images meant to represent Earth and human civilization.

I've long intended to listen to the record and yesterday I did. One of the cuts is a 12-minute collage of sounds from our planet. It starts with natural sounds-thunder, crickets, frogs, birds, etc.-and progresses human sounds-a heartbeat, speech, tool use, etc. The sounds appear in roughly historical order, with the sound of a rocket launch toward the end.

At 7:49 there is Morse code on top of other sounds. I was curious what the message was, so I transcribed it: it's ad astra per aspera" played twice. This is Latin for To the stars through hardships."

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