Send a text to space

AUSTRALIA – Australians had the opportunity to send text-like messages to potential intelligent life beyond Earth thanks to a recently launched initiative to mark National Science Week.

From the 12th until the 24th August, the public could visit a website and post goodwill messages that were transmitted to the nearest Earth-like planet outside our Solar System likely to support life.

The planet – Gliese 581d – is eight times the size of Earth and some 20 light years away (194 trillion km). It was first discovered in April 2007. Due to its size, it is classified as a ‘Super Earth’.

Messages sent during the 2009 National Science Week will arrive in the planet’s vicinity by around December 2029.

Messages, no longer than 160 characters, will be transmitted from the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex at Tidbinbilla, with the close cooperation of NASA.

Senator Kim Carr, minister for innovation, industry, science and research entered the first message at the launch of National Science Week at Questacon in Canberra, which read: Hello from Australia on the planet we call Earth. These messages express our people’s dreams for the future. We want to share those dreams with you.

“What better way to discover the limitless possibilities of science than to give Australians the opportunity to try to seek contact with other intelligent life forms,” Senator Carr said.

The spokesperson for HelloFromEarth.net and editor of the Australian science magazine COSMOS, Mr Wilson da Silva, said: “We’ve secured incredible support from around the globe, including NASA – people are really excited about this,” Mr da Silva said.

“It’s like a ‘message in a bottle’ cast out into the stars. What’s interesting is not just whether there’s anyone listening, but what the public will say to intelligent life on another planet, given the opportunity.

“Hello From Earth is our way of showing that science can make the impossible possible. We have been to the Moon and now, we can speak to the stars.”

The Hello From Earth site is a National Science Week initiative of COSMOS and has been developed with the support of Questacon, CSIRO, NASA, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Post-Detection Committee of the International Academy of Astronautics.