The four maps that NASA has optimistically sent into space could turn right back along with extraterrestrials who seek to colonize other planets

Frank Drake, American astronomer and famed alien hunter designed maps that were placed inside Pioneer 10 and 11, as well as Voyager 1 and 2 probes.

All of them have now left the solar system and are heading straight through deep space, without anyone knowing what they may encounter along the way.

There is a plaque placed aboard the Pioneer craft which shows a man and a woman alongside a normal map that plots the position of Earth in comparison to a distant pulsar stars that are long-lasting. This means that, even years from now, extraterrestrials could still find their way to Earth.

Moreover, Voyager was equipped with “golden records” that can be played to reveal natural sounds and even pictures from Earth. A similar map is engraved on the front of the records.

However, Frank Drake now fears that it may have been a bad idea to send all of that highly important information into space. NASA hasn’t responded with any comments yet.

“In those days, all the people I dealt with were optimists, and they thought the ETs would be friendly,” Drake told National Geographic.

“Nobody thought, even for a few seconds, about whether this might be a dangerous thing to do.”

The person who wrote the article about Drake was actually his daughter Nadia, who curiously asked whether this action may one day be seen as “foolish and dangerous”.

Numerous scientists now believe that contacting extraterrestrials is a bad idea. Professor Stephen Hawking recently warned that “meeting an advanced civilisation could be like Native Americans encountering Columbus”.