In Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist/science fiction novel, The Sirens of Titan, the entire purpose of the evolution of the human race was to produce and deliver a small replacement part to a moon-stranded spaceship so it could complete its mission of carrying a message from one side of the universe to the other.
"The message consists of a single dot, which in the Tralfamadorian language means 'greetings.'"
See: http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/edoc/ia/eese/artic99/klein2/5_99.html
Also see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sirens_of_Titan