Pioneer 10 & 11 Menu Map to find Earthlings |
Arecibo Menu |
As part of the The Asian Arena International Taiwan Radio Open Sky-faced Balcony Observatory Laboratory 57, this incognito search initiative employs a radio receiver that collects evidence in the search for intelligent life in the universe but does not transmit or give out our coordinates.
In the "You contact us, we don't contact you," radio telescope program, the radio telescope lab searches for bright radio emissions from populated planets around stars. A signature represents the combined radio signature of a planetary culture, such as their initial radio, TV, communications, and other electronic devices that contribute to the emission of a zone of RF. The populated culture won't have a clue that we're listening. In fact, these planets are often separated by vast distances and the passage of great time from the Earth. In perhaps many examples, the civilization will have evolved thousands, even millions of years into the future, from the date stamp signature of the signal we receive.
Listening to radio source emissions is more benign than transmitting our coordinates that could potentially make the Earth a fast food menu stop in space. In the early 70's, Arecibo, Pioneer 10, and Pioneer 11 contained menu maps directing alien civilizations to our doorstep (see illustration). Foolish or not? We know that science fiction, more often than not, is an accurate predictor of the future. How many science fiction movies exist similar to Alien, Predator, and even Star Trek with war-like Klingons are bent on destroying Earthlings or using humans as food sources? Listening to other civilizations does not alert those civilizations to our position.
LINKS
Radio Telescope Observatory Lab 57