The European Space Agency confirmed on 26 May that, for the first time, an alien signal has been transmitted to Earth from Mars. At 9 pm, the ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) sent an encoded message to Earth from its orbit around Mars.
This event has created a unique situation where we are simulating the reception of a genuine signal from another civilization. Throughout history, humans have always sought meaning in powerful and transformative phenomena.
The receipt of a message from an extraterrestrial civilization would undoubtedly be an immensely transformative experience for all of humanity,” stated Daniela de Paulis, the artist behind the ‘A Sign in Space’ project.
Paulis, an Artist in Residence at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, collaborated with a group of global experts, space scientists, and artists. Together, they embarked on a project aimed at delving into the intricate process of deciphering and interpreting an extraterrestrial message.
As part of this initiative, the European probe transmitted the signal, which was successfully received by several renowned observatories including the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, the Medicina Radio Astronomical Station in Italy, the Allen Telescope Array in California, and the Very Large Array in New Mexico.
The project’s website invites individuals and groups to participate in the intriguing task of decoding and interpreting the message. Both the technical and cultural aspects of the message will be determined through this decoding and interpretation process, as stated on the website.
De Paulis and her team have meticulously designed and encoded the message, which remains undisclosed at present. Furthermore, the project invites people to submit their own interpretations of the message.
“This experiment presents a unique opportunity for the global community to witness the collaborative efforts of the diverse SETI community in receiving, processing, analyzing, and comprehending the potential meaning behind an extraterrestrial signal,”
Dr. Farah emphasized that the endeavor to communicate with extraterrestrial beings goes beyond the realm of astronomy, necessitating a wide range of knowledge. Through the ‘A Sign in Space’ project, their aim is to initiate the process of uniting a community to collectively confront this challenge.
