Pushcart 2026 L: M. H. Tse, “Hello From the Children of Planet Earth” (non-fiction) from Alaska Quarterly Review #40.3&4

There is a message on Voyager 1 and 2, space probes that have been sailing away from the planet Earth for almost 50 years. The message is cut into a 12-inch gold- plated copper disk and contains 115 images and 35 sound recordings of life on Earth, 90 minutes of music, and greetings spoken in 55 different human languages. There are images of mathematical equations, bridges, a strand of DNA, and a human mother nursing an infant. There are bird sounds, folk songs, an aria, and a recording of the brainwaves of one of the creators, Ann Druyan, meditating on the wonder of being in love. “Hello from the children of Planet Earth,” a voice says in English. The Golden Record is supposed to remain legible for a billion years. As an artifact of the human story, this object contains vital information about the beings who made it. That information is not, however, revealed in the contents of the message, but in how these beings had positioned certain parts of themselves in the light and other parts…