AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 22, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Mayor Steve Adler today revealed the contents of an official letter to extraterrestrials and future citizens of the solar system that will be placed on the moon approximately 40 days from today, mid-April. The letter was aboard the SpaceX Falcon rocket that launched out of Cape Canaveral, Florida last night.
"Yes, the real moon." said Mayor Adler.
The Falcon is carrying a moon lander from commercial space exploration outfit SpaceIL, which in turn is carrying the Lunar Library from the Arch Mission Foundation. The physical archive is comprised of millions of documents laser etched in microscopic analog form on a radiation-proof nickel Nanofiche™ disk. It will be placed on the moon permanently.
Space IL's moon lander will circle the moon in gradually descending orbit in order to facilitate a soft landing. The first and nominal landing opportunity will happen on April 11.
The Arch Mission Foundation's goal is to archive all human knowledge permanently in space. The Foundation provided this opportunity to Austin's Mayor. Also included in the Billion Year Archive are:
- A full copy of the English language Wikipedia
- 25,000 books and other resources, including collections from Project Gutenberg and the Internet Archive
- The Long Now Foundation Rosetta and PanLex datasets, which provide a linguistic key to 5000 languages with 1.5 billion cross-language translations.
As part of their program, the Arch Mission invited a limited number of celebrities, influencers, and dignitaries to make a contribution to the Lunar Library.
Mayor Adler's letter includes a copy of the original, authentic, and never-before-published Kerbey Queso recipe from Kerbey Lane Cafe.
"We choose to send queso to the Moon - and maybe someday chips as well, not because these things are easy, but because they are hard," said Mayor Adler. "The challenge to eat queso in zero gravity is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, among other key challenges, like next time remembering the chips."
"We are so happy to take the recipe for our best selling item of all time to the moon," said Kerbey Lane Cafe CEO Mason Ayer. "I suppose getting the ingredients together out there in space is a whole 'nother story. But as central artifacts of civilization go, I can't think of a more important, sustaining foodstuff. No archive, time capsule, library or vault is complete without queso. One day we hope the whole galaxy will benefit. Turns out, the moon isn't really made of cheese. So we sent some."
Adler also included a photo of Albert "Leslie" Cochran with the letter, together with an economic incentive package, in hopes of welcoming extraterrestrial visitors and future citizens. "If it helps your decision to visit, please know that extraterrestrial beings have already been to Austin, become cultural icons, and even run for Mayor – and they are forever welcome here. To wit, I am proudly enclosing a photo of Albert 'Leslie' Cochran", the letter states. Adler declined to provide details about the image, commenting, "I'm not going to say exactly what the picture shows, but Leslie mooned Austin enough times. It was about time Austin mooned the moon."
Mayor Adler's letter to extraterrestrials ends on a more serious note, echoing President Carter's message placed on the Voyager in 1977.
"It is my hope that on the future day that you read this, we will have solved the many things on this earth for which we are less proud. Presently, the world has not sufficiently responded to the dire threat of climate change and environmental injustice. And our society has let people become downtrodden, failing to recognize that each human being, regardless of the immutable characteristics of their birth or their station in life, is alive with the same fire that lights the stars at night. Austin today is working to make this a better universe by tackling homelessness and inequity, and through our support for the environment, restorative justice in our community, and the lasting beauty of our arts.
Perhaps a future time capsule will send happy news of our solutions to the vexing problems that threaten what is great in our city and our world. We in Austin do not just hope for a better and more just tomorrow, but are taking the difficult steps in the present, so we will survive our time and we may live into yours. May this message represent our continuing hope and determination, and our good will in a vast and awesome universe."
View the letter in full here.
About Arch Mission Foundation
The Arch Mission Foundation is a non-profit organization that maintains a backup of planet Earth, designed to continuously preserve and disseminate humanity's most important knowledge across time and space. The Arch Mission Foundation is preserving the knowledge and biology of our planet in a solar system wide project called The Billion Year Archive.™
Arch™ Libraries are the most durable records of human civilization ever built. Using new technologies, they preserve more knowledge for more time, than anything ever created. Arch™ Libraries are being designed in a variety of form factors to persist for long-durations on Earth, as well as in other locations across our solar system and beyond.
The Arch Mission Foundation was co-founded by Nova Spivack and Nick Slavin. Other key early team members include Mathew Hoerl, Robert C. Jacobson, and Michael Paul. More information about team members and industry advisors can be found at http://www.archmission.org/crew.
For more information visit: http://www.archmission.org
About Mayor Steve Adler
Steve Adler is Austin's 52nd Mayor and Mayor of All The Queso. His top priorities include mobility, affordability and equity for all Austinites. Adler has been elected a Vice President of the National Council of Democratic Mayors, a Trustee of the United States Conference of Mayors, and Chair of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) policy board.
Mayor Adler has received broad recognition for innovative ideas and leadership. Foreign Policy named him a Global reThinker and Living Cities included Mayor Adler on the list of 25 Disruptive Leaders (along with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and author Ta-Nehihi Coates) to mark that organization's 25th anniversary. The Austin Chronicle readership has named Mayor Adler as Best City Official each year since 2016, and Chronicle critics named Adler Best Drag Mother for his turn as Mother Ginger in Ballet Austin's The Nutcracker and Most Devoted Pen Pal for his Wonder Woman letter. Austin Monthly has also named Mayor Adler "Best Politician" for "fearlessly speaking up for Austinites [and] proving that a little snark goes a long way to support the morale of a community."
For more information visit: http://www.mayoradler.com
About Kerbey Lane Cafe
On May 5th, 1980, Kerbey Lane Cafe began operating out of a small house on Kerbey Lane in north- central Austin. Famous for its fluffy pancakes and delicious queso, Kerbey Lane Cafe is dedicated to serving house-made food that is local, fresh and affordable, while providing a welcoming and memorable experience to all who come through its doors. These simple principles helped grow Kerbey Lane Cafe from a single location operating out of a humble house into a beloved Austin institution with eight locations throughout the Austin area.
For more information, visit http://www.kerbeylanecafe.com.
SOURCE Steve Adler
Share this article