Rebeca Fernandez
Cosmic Time Capsule
In the 1970s, NASA launched the Golden Record—a time capsule of sounds and images from Earth—into space. My thesis project is a personal version of this endeavor: a record of my life as a design student in 2024, to be sent into space. It includes five photos of special significance to me, along with reflections and stories—some of them from strangers, others from lifelong friends—each written in the contributor’s native or second language.
The heart of the project is in its layout and color. I chose a clean, simple structure to let each story breathe. The dominant blue—a grounded, living hue—represents the Earth. The screenshots, captured through Google Maps, reflect the surface textures of different territories, showing how the Earth’s skin shifts across individuals, cities, countries, and continents. To me, that visual contrast is pure magic, and I’ve worked to preserve that essence throughout the thesis.
The project is also influenced by the Earth Archive, which is working to create a visual record of the Earth’s landscapes before they are altered by climate change. My goal is to capture fragments of life and enable them to live on, preserved in these pages for generations to come. I am doing everything I can to send this time capsule into space, so that one day, even if we are long gone, a piece of who we were–our stories, our Earth—might be remembered and cherished for eternity.
Not everyone I asked to participate in the project said yes. Those who did trusted me with a glimpse of their world, for which I’m grateful. This project is a celebration of memory and connection—a living archive of what it means to be human.
