Earth is expected to receive a signal from Mars on May 24.
Seeking extraterrestrial intelligence is one of the important missions of mankind.
The Research Institute for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) based in California (USA), will send signals simulating “alien messages” from a spacecraft orbiting Mars to three telescopes on Earth, according to the Daily Mail.
The aim is to help scientists prepare for a “deeply transformative experience for all of humanity,” once the aliens actually make contact with humans.
The SETI Institute team is currently keeping information about the plan secret, including the type of signal transmitted to Earth and the content of the message. Radio signal transmission to Earth from Mars will take 5 – 20 minutes.
As planned, the European Space Agency (ESA) Mars orbiter will send an encrypted message. The message reached Earth after about 16 minutes through a distance of about 290 million kilometers in space. ESA’s spacecraft has been studying Mars’ atmosphere since 2016.
The signal will be sent back to Earth from a spacecraft orbiting Mars.
Scientists at the SETI Institute will process the signal and make it available to the public for decoding.
Daniela dePaulis, a member of the SETI Institute, said: “Throughout history, humanity has searched for meaning in highly transformative phenomena. Receiving a message from an extraterrestrial civilization would be a transformative experience. profound change for all humanity”.
“The new project offers an unprecedented opportunity to realistically rehearse and prepare for the above scenario through global collaboration, accelerating the search process without limits,” added dePaulis.
The SETI Institute is a non-profit, multidisciplinary research organization with a mission to lead humanity to understand the origins of life and intelligence in the universe and to share that knowledge with the world
An agency created by the Pentagon recently released a report on the alien problem on Earth.