By Allen Tsai | Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:34 am |
An Australian website is letting users send text messages into outer space as part of a National Science Week project.
Through August 24, people can visit HelloFromEarth.net to post messages up to 160 characters long that will be transmitted to Gliese 581d -- the nearest earth-like planet outside our solar system.However, expected delivery time is some 20 years -- and there's no guarantee of a response. "It's like a 'message in a bottle' cast out into the stars," said Wilson da Silva, the project's spokesperson. "What's interesting is not just whether there's anyone listening, but what the public will say to intelligent life on another planet." Discovered in April 2007, Gliese 581d is eight times the size of Earth and 20 light years away. "Everyone is very excited because it's the first planet -- of the 358 so far discovered outside of our solar system -- that has the potential for life," he said da Silva. "It has water." The messages will be collected, converted into a radio signal and transmitted from the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex at Tidbinbilla. Messages containing profanities will be excluded. Austrailian Science Minister Kim Carr entered the first message to launch the project. "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," his message said. The project, with the close cooperation of U.S. space agency NASA, is part of Australia's National Science Week.
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