'A Sign in Space': When Earth received ‘alien’ signal from Mars

Space scientists are working hard to find life outside planet Earth,and coming up with theories which suggest that, maybe, we are not alone in this infinite universe. In the same pursuit, European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed that an alien signal has been beamed to Earth from Mars for the first time — which was sent by them only.

The Trace Gas Orbiter, which is an ESA spacecraft orbiting Mars, transmitted a signal and it was received bythe Green Bank Telescope (West Virginia), the Medicina Radio Astronomical Station (Italy), the Allen Telescope Array (California) and the Very Large Array (New Mexico).

The transmission is part of "A Sign in Space" project, which is an interdisciplinary project by media artist Daniela de Paulis.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The project stated that decoding an extraterrestrial signal and understanding its message would present unprecedented challenges. Researchers at each institution were then tasked with deciphering the signal.

ESA mentioned on its website: "The Sign in Space project invites participants to delve into the realm of the unknown and grapple with these existential quandaries, expanding our collective understanding of the Universe and our place in it."

De Paulis said, "Throughout history, humanity has searched for meaning in powerful and transformative phenomena. Receiving a message from an extra-terrestrial civilisation would be a profoundly transformational experience for all humankind."

In a statement, ATA Project Scientist Dr Wael Farah, said, "This experiment is an opportunity for the world to learn how the SETI community, in all its diversity, will work together to receive, process, analyse, and understand the meaning of a potential extraterrestrial signal."

"More than astronomy, communicating with ET will require a breadth of knowledge. With A Sign in Space, we hope to make the initial steps towards bringing a community together to meet this challenge," it added.

Living on Mars

For Canadian biologist Kelly Haston, apparently living on Mars wasn't exactly a childhood dream but she'll soon spend a year preparing for just that.

"We are just going to pretend that we're there," Haston told the news agency AFP, as she summed up her participation in an exercise simulating a long stay on the Red Planet.

At the end of June, she will be one of the four volunteers stepping into a Martian habitat in Houston, Texas that will be their home for the next 12 months. She said, "It still sometimes seems a bit unreal to me."

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.