Why was a golden record sent into space? And why would a piece of music entitled “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground” be included on it?
When NASA’s Voyager spacecrafts were launched in 1977, they each carried a golden record introducing planet Earth. Photos and drawings, sounds and diagrams were included, and among the sounds was “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground” by Blues guitarist Blind Willie Johnson which became A Song for the Cosmos. Gary Kelley’s rich and soulful illustrations introduce the fascinating story of Johnson’s life while Jan Lower’s writing draws the reader into how the golden records were created, and how our civilization was shared with the cosmos.
Jan Lower is an author of fiction and non-fiction for middle grade readers. Before becoming a children’s writer, she worked as a lawyer in Washington. She received an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Jan lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with her husband and three cats.
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