Nov 16 1974
From The Space Library
In an attempt to communicate with another civilization in the universe, a powerful three-minute radio signal was beamed from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico toward Messier 13, a globular cluster of stars at the edge of the Milky Way, 25 000 light years from the earth. The transmission-devised by the staff of the National Astronomy and Atmosphere Center, which included the Observatory and was operated by Cornell Univ. for the National Science Foundation-was a coded message representing life on the earth. The Observatory's new 450-kw radar transmitter, sponsored by NASA and completed in October, had increased the planetary ranging and surface mapping capabilities a thousandfold. When focused by the Observatory's newly resurfaced 305-m dish the energy was multiplied, sending a beam to Messier 13 brighter than any other source in the Milky Way. (Sullivan, NYT, 20 Nov 74, 77; O'Toole, W Post, 17 Nov 74, Al; Pres Rpt 74, 86; NASA Release 74-309; NASA, Chief Plan Astron, interview, 15 Dec 75)
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