Today is Bastille Day. Here we celebrate the official french holiday with a big military parade and huge fireworks. The military parade in Paris had very special guests this year: 77 New York firefighters and their families attended it in the grandstand with all the french officials.
And the Corps of Cadets of the United States Military Academy at West Point was part of the parade to celebrate the 200th birthday of their school.
After this introduction, let's move to our "sujet du jour." Because it's our national holiday, I want to offer you a gift: a chance to send your words in space.
Here is what I was writing on this subject back in February 1999.
KEO's goal is to send a satellite in space by the end of 2001. This satellite will carry as many as possible written messages from people living everywhere in the world.
KEO will fly through time and space for 50,000 years before returning to Earth to deliver everyone's message to future generations.
Why 50,000 years? Jean-Marc Philippe, inventor of KEO, answers:
"50,000 years is the mirror date to a fantastic moment in the evolution of Man: the appearance of Art, revealing a capacity for abstract thought.
It is also a distance in time that is so vertiginous and mind-boggling that it compels us to abandon our normal points of reference and puts us all on an equal footing, forcing us to reach down into our imaginations or deep convictions. And it is a time span that will give our treasures a true archeological value, because most, if not all, traces of our existence today will have disappeared by then."
Here is one of KEO's banners.
Since 1999, the launch plans have been updated. KEO now has prestigious sponsors like Aérospatiale, Arianespace or the French Nuclear Energy Committee (CEA). It has also been labeled as a "21st Century Project" by UNESCO.
And the KEO satellite will not leave our planet before the end of 2003. This should give you enough time to send your messages by visiting the KEO website.
But don't write a novel: messages are limited to four pages.
And remember: you will not get your answers before the 521st century.
Sources: Roland Piquepaille; KEO website
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