As Voyager 1 approaches the absolute limit of our solar system it ceases to be an instrument of scientific endeavour and becomes instead a symbol of the whimsical nature of the humanity it has left behind.

Voyager 1 carries with it the greetings of mankind into the unimaginably vast reaches of interstellar space, in the form of a golden record. Inscribed on the record are the words “The Sounds of Earth” and it contains greetings, sounds, music, and images of the people of Earth. Among the artefacts on this record is the record’s only example of rock and roll, the song Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry.

In a whimsical association, the words for “Be Good” in Sanskrit are “sv-“ meaning good, and “asti” meaning to be, and are the etymological root of the word swastika (svastika – the ka intensifies the verbal meaning).

In another whimsical association, the pattern to follow by a robot designed to plot a swastika would be (assuming the turns are 90 degrees):

move 3 units and then turn right,
move 1 unit and then turn right,
move 2 units and turn left,
move 1 unit and turn left,
move 2 units and turn right,
repeat.

Click on the thumbnail below to see an animation of the swastika being drawn.

If the pattern is retained and only the angle of the turn is changed (whimsically?) to 120 degrees, a new symbol emerges:

Click on the thumbnail below to see the second symbol.

I first read of this interesting pattern correlation at http://www.futilitycloset.com.