Hello Out There!

Beamed into deep space from the troubled third planet of the solar system, the radio message constituted a small act of faith on behalf of all humankind. It expressed the conviction that we are not alone, that the joy and anguish of intelligent life are not an isolated accident on earth but have occurred often in the sweep of the universe. It also embodied the faith that humanity will survive, since it will be at least 48,000 years before our descendants can expect any answer.

The message itself was succinct: a three-minute transmission in mathematical code describing the make-up of the solar system, the inhabitants of earth, the present world population and the double helix of the heredity molecule DNA. The signal was transmitted last week by a team of U.S. scientists from the giant radio telescope at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, a vast antenna 1,000 ft. in diameter lining a natural bowl formed by hills. The target was Messier 13, a cluster of some 300,000 stars located on the remote fringe of the Milky Way. Addressed simply to "Occupants" of any planets that may be orbiting Messier 13's stars, the message, even traveling as it does at the speed of light (186,000 miles per sec.), will not reach the cluster for 24,000 earth years. If anybody out there is listening, it will take at least that long for them to return a signal to earth. Even so, the favor of a reply is requested.

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