Earth will be receiving its first ever alien message, though scientifically simulated, from Mars soon. This comes after the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute's efforts to encode an ET signal from a Mars craft that three huge telescopes on Earth will try to receive.
Could This Be Earth's First Alien Message?
MailOnline reports that the idea behind this endeavor is to prepare specialists for when alien life actually comes into contact with Earth.
The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) of the European Space Agency will be sending an encoded message to Earth on May 24, 3:00 p.m. ET, per Yahoo! News. Three ground-based telescopes will try to receive the signal as it arrives, roughly after 16 minutes. This signal, made by artist Daniela de Paulis and her team, will be made publicly available. In fact, the public will be encouraged to try deciphering the hidden message.
Daniel de Paulis, who is also the one behind the A Sign in Space program, explained in a statement that across history humans have been looking for meaning in transformative and strong phenomena. She adds that being able to receive an extraterrestrial message will be a vastly "transformational experience" for all of humanity.
A Sign in Space now provides an opportunity to concretely release such scenarios through globally collaborative efforts. This, then, facilitates the open-ended search for meaning through these disciplines and cultures. The project is also, notably, the first to pull off such a feat.
The Medicina Radio Astronomical Station in northern Italy, Robert C. Byrd in the Green Bank Observatory (GBT) in West Virginia, and the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) will all collaborate in order to receive the transmitted signal. When SETI gets the signal, scientists will safely keep the data. They will do so collaboratively with the Open Data Archive and Filecoin, which is a decentralized network for storage.
Public Engagement
SETI will also be engaging the public through live stream events that feature vital team members from all around the world. Engineers, scientists, artists, and other professionals will be joining, and control rooms from the three observatories will also be documented, per MailOnline.
The Institute adds that anyone who tries to decipher the signal could discuss it through the server of A Sign in Space. Thoughts, findings, and scientific or artistic inputs could also be submitted through the website of the project.
The team from A Sign in Space will also be conducting various discussions via Zoom that are open to the public. During these discussions, various topics, such as their implications for society, will be brought to the table. These discussions will reportedly take place over the course of six to eight months after the transmission is received.
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