SETI League Press Release
LITTLE FERRY, NJ.., March 22, 1996 -- On Earth Day, April 21, 1996, the non-profit, membership-supported SETI League will be kicking off its long awaited Project Argus survey of the heavens for microwave signals of possible intelligent extra-terrestrial origin. Credentialed members of the press are cordially invited to be our honored guests at Launch Ceremonies and a press briefing commencing at two o'clock that Sunday afternoon, at our Little Ferry NJ headquarters. We are located at 433 Liberty Street, just two blocks North of Route 46 and a mile East of the Teterboro airport. We respectfully request that you inform us of your intention to attend, via email to rsvp_at_setileague_dot_org, or by voice-mail to (201) 641-1770, not later than April 10, 1996. Light refreshments will be served.
Perhaps the most ambitious radio astronomy project ever undertaken without Government equipment or funding, Project Argus (named after the all-seeing mythological Greek guard-beast with 100 eyes) is an effort to deploy and coordinate roughly 5,000 small radiotelescopes around the world, in an all-sky survey for microwave signals of possible intelligent extra-terrestrial origin. When fully operational, Project Argus will provide the first ever continuous monitoring of the entire sky, in all directions in real time.
Traditional research grade radiotelescopes can view only a small fraction of the sky at a given time, typically on the order of one part in a million. All sky coverage with these instruments would thus require a million telescopes, each at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. Project Argus will employ much smaller, quite inexpensive amateur radiotelescopes, built and operated by amateur radio experimenters at their individual expense. The equipment, although of modest sensitivity, is capable of detecting microwave radiation from technologically advanced civilizations out to a distance of several hundred light years.
SETI scientists seek to determine through microwave and optical measurements whether humankind is alone in the universe. Since Congress terminated NASA's SETI funding in 1993, The SETI League and other scientific groups have been attempting to privatize the research. Experimenters interested in participating in the search for intelligent alien life, or citizens wishing to help support it, should email to join_at_setileague_dot_org, check the SETI League Web site at http://www.setileague.org/, send a fax to +1 (201) 641-1771, or contact The SETI League, Inc. membership hotline at +1 (800) TAU-SETI. Be sure to provide us with a postal address to which we will mail further information. The SETI League, Inc. is a membership-supported, non-profit [501(c)(3)], educational and scientific corporation dedicated to the electromagnetic Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.
P.S. Tearsheets are always appreciated. Thank you.
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