Alien-seeking radio dishes go dark
Any number of headlines about E.T. not being able to phone home are already hitting the wires, but the hackneyed reference to everyone's favorite pop culture alien figure underscores a more troubling reality: the decades-long search for extraterrestrial life suffered a blow with the announcement that a $50 million alien telescope array is being mothballed because of a lack of funding.
SETI, an acronym for the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence, refers to a project that's been underway to answer the not-so-inconsiderable question of whether humans are truly alone in the universe. The original plans called for the Allen Telescope Array, part of the Hat Creek Radio Observatory, to house as many as 350 dishes.
However, budgetary constraints have forced the SETI Institute to shut the first 42 telescopes which were installed in 2007 to scan the skies for evidence of alien life. It's not clear when - or whether - the telescopes will return to operations. SETI received the bulk of its funding from a couple of sources: the National Science Foundation, and the State of California.
SETI's large-scale telescope scans the skies
"Unfortunately, today's government budgetary environment is very difficult, and new solutions must be found," Tom Pierson, CEO of the SETI Institute, wrote in a note posted on SETI's website. Pierson was alluding to recent budgetary constraints both on the federal and state levels forced by the recent recession. As a result of tighter times, the arrays were put into so-called hibernation mode" on April 15 as the organization now finds itself scrambling to locate other sources of funding. (Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen initially provided $25 million for the ATA.) "Hibernation means that, starting this week, the equipment is unavailable for normal observations and is being maintained in a safe state by a significantly reduced staff," according to Pierson.
The satellite array, which is located about 300 miles north-east of San Francisco, is a partnership between the SETI Institute and the Radio Astronomy Lab of the University of California, Berkeley. They were considered to be among the fastest radio telescopes in the world and were focused on signals in the 1,000 MHz to 3,000 MHz range.