A Sign in Space – Contact meets Community
How would humankind react on Earth, if we received a transmission from an alien culture? On May 23, 2024, a simulated extraterrestrial message was transmitted towards Earth from the Trace Gas Orbiter, a spacecraft orbiting Mars operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). The radio signal was received by the U.S. National Science Foundation Green Bank Telescope (NSF GBT), the Allen Telescope Array, the Medicina Radio Antenna, and smaller radio antennas in Spain and Germany. This event was part of “A Sign in Space,” a project created in collaboration with the U.S. National Science Foundation Green Bank Observatory (NSF GBO), the SETI Institute, the Italian Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), and ESA, and was developed from 2022 to 2024 at NSF GBO, supported by the Baruch Blumberg Visiting Fellowship in Astrobiology.
When I first conceived ‘A Sign in Space,’ … I sought to challenge anthropocentrism and foster multiple interpretations of the message.
Daniela de Paulis
Artist Daniela de Paulis
The artist Daniela de Paulis, known for working with radio technologies, has spent the past fifteen years creating projects that engage the global public through astronomy, using radio transmissions as a medium to connect humans with the cosmos. Her projects often involve collaborative and participatory live events that extend planetary experiences into outer space. In these works, astronomical phenomena, such as the rotation of the Earth or the distance between the Earth and celestial objects, become active agents in the live performance, with participants experiencing these events as they unfold. An active member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) SETI Committee since 2015, de Paulis contributes to discussions on the question: “Are we alone in the universe?” from various perspectives, including the arts.
The creation of “A Sign in Space” took four years. In late 2019, the artist envisioned a scenario for a planetary theatrical play in which humankind would receive a signal from space, with people worldwide participating in decoding and interpreting the message within the radio signal. This scenario differed from the typical portrayal in mainstream movies and science fiction, where only individual scientists or small teams have access to the signal data and decoding possibilities.
The NSF Green Bank Observatory played a crucial role from the project’s early stages. In 2022, de Paulis spent two months at the Observatory as a Baruch Blumberg Visiting Fellow. During this time, she discussed the project proposal with NSF GBO scientists and outreach specialists to establish a collaboration. From November 2022 to April 2023, she coordinated regular meetings between ESA space engineers, scientists at NSF GBO, SETI Institute, and INAF, to align the Trace Gas Orbiter’s transmitting parameters with the reception capabilities of the NSF GBT, the Allen Telescope Array, and the Medicina Radio Antenna. Simultaneously, the artist worked with outreach teams at the observatories to develop activities engaging the public in decoding the message and exploring SETI-related discussions.
The live event on May 23, 2024, was streamed by the SETI Institute from the NSF GBT control cabin, in collaboration with the outreach teams of the participating facilities. Viewers from around the world followed the event, featuring the live transmission of the simulated extraterrestrial message from Mars to Earth. Shortly after the successful reception of the signal at the NSF Green Bank Telescope, the Allen Telescope Array, and the Medicina Radio Antenna, the signal data was reduced in size and made publicly available for download.
Thousands of people gathered on the social media platform Discord to decode and interpret the message. The community produced a continuous stream of interpretations, fueling an ongoing narrative around the possible meanings of the message. De Paulis said “When I first conceived ‘A Sign in Space,’ I aimed to raise questions about the complex process of meaning-making in today’s globally connected societies. I sought to challenge anthropocentrism and foster multiple interpretations of the message.” Along with her collaborators, de Paulis designed a message that sparked the imagination of people worldwide.
On June 7, 2024, over a year after the live event streamed from NSF GBO, a father-and-daughter team submitted the “solution” to the decoding process, correctly interpreting the information in the message’s header. However, the meaning of the message remains open-ended. What were the extraterrestrials trying to communicate? Could humanity interpret the intentions of a civilization that evolved on another planet if a real signal from space were ever received? The conversation is ongoing, and the public can still be a part of the community discussion by participating in the interpretation process.
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