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Space Topics: Search for Extraterrestrial IntelligenceThe Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: A Short HistoryPart 14: SETI Today As long as NASA was involved in the SETI business, it dwarfed all other ventures by the shear scale of its resources. Even independent groups, like the SETI Institute, were often content to carve a niche within the NASA program rather than branch out on their own. But in the years since the cancellation of HRMS, a wide range of new and innovative projects, such as SETI@home and Optical SETI, have emerged and taken their place in the Sun. Some of these projects are the work of The SETI League. Composed of about 1300 enthusiasts, the League is working to set up a network of amateur SETI observers, each working with their own radio dish. Eventually, the SETI League hopes to have no less than 5000 SETI observing stations across the world. With just over 100 observers so far, the venture, known as Project Argus, still has a long way to go. The SETI League is also working on establishing an array of radio dishes in northern New Jersey, which they call "Array2k." When completed, the array will form a new kind of radio telescope, and will be dedicated exclusively to SETI. One of the best funded and most promising projects for the future of SETI is the Allen Telescope Array, which will be built at the Hat Creek Observatory in northern California's Cascade mountains. The Allen Array is a joint venture of U.C. Berkeley and the SETI Institute, and it is underwritten by a 26 million dollar donation by Microsoft founder Paul Allen. 350 radio dishes, about 6 meters (20 feet) each in diameter, will constitute the Array when completed, giving it a collecting area greater than that of a 100 meter dish.
The Allen Array represents a true breakthrough for radio SETI. As a dedicated observatory, SETI researchers will be using it year-round to search for alien signals, as compared to the several weeks every year, which are allotted to Project Phoenix at Arecibo. In addition, since it is composed of hundreds of separate dishes, the array can be pointed at several points in the sky at the same time, and therefore listen to signals from several stars simultaneously. The latest technology will enable the Array to cover a frequency band 9 gigahertz wide, more than 3 times wider than project Phoenix, which scans the widest band of any of today's searches. All of this represents a qualitative leap in the capacity of SETI searches, and increases the chances of detecting a "real" signal several-fold. SETI research suffered a severe blow with the cancellation of the NASA program in 1993, but thanks to the leadership of The SETI Institute and The Planetary Society it recovered quickly. While no longer commanding the scale of resources made available through NASA, SETI programs are also free from the political and funding hazards that come with dependence on government funding. SETI after NASA is perhaps a smaller enterprise, but it is also more diverse, more widely accepted in academic institutions around the world, and - as the phenomenal success of SETI@home has demonstrated - remarkably popular with the public at large. With a broader base and a wider appeal, SETI today is a more viable enterprise than ever before. And although no alien signal has yet been detected, the hope still burns and the search continues... --Amir Alexander |
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