In Hat Creek at the University of California, Berkeley, a
group of astronomers have recently re-gathered themselves to resume one of
modern science’s most iconic quests: the search for extraterrestrial
intelligence, a.k.a. SETI.
This stellar project, unfortunately, had to be stopped in
spring of last year due to lack of funds.
In December, though, the 42 radio telescopes of the Allen
Telescope Array – named after Microsoft founder Paul G. Allen, who gave $25
million to jumpstart the project – stirred again with the lifeblood of funds
from private supporters, the millionaires of Silicon Valley, and the sheer
bullheadedness of the astronomers involved in the study.
Notice how federal funds are not mentioned here. Yup, in
spite of all the money the government has spent and is still spending on all
the expensive tools and machines it is launching into space, the SETI Institute
has not received a single cent of federal funding since 1993.
But the University of California, the home of the Allen
Telescope Array, is not filled with brilliant minds for nothing. Recently, the
university has found a way into the government’s pocket, by offering to share
the Allen telescopes with the U.S. Air Force, which wants to utilize the scope
for tracking satellites and space junk.
Now the search for space junk – that is something the U.S. government is willing to pay for.
We interrupt this cynicism with a quick history lesson. The
SETI project started in the 1960s, when young astronomer Frank Drake had the
bright idea of pointing an antenna at a pair of stars in the sky, thinking he
might be able to make contact with something – or someone.
Well, we all know what happened there, or we could easily
guess.
But as University of California professor Geoffrey W. Marcy
insists, “Surely they are out there, because the number of Earthlike planets in
the Milky Way galaxy is simply too great.”
Perhaps the good professor is right. Unfortunately, Dr.
Drake’s telescope array is not sufficient for the task it was assigned to do. A
complete system needs 350 antennae – a far cry from the current 42. And
remember, it cost $25 million to get the 42 antennae.
Dr. Jill Tarter, the current face of SETI, has already
contributed a $100,000 prize she received from the Technology, Entertainment
and Design conference in 2009. But to complete the set, $55 million more is
needed.
Any volunteers?
