SPACE WIRE
ET phone home - Ukraine space center reaches out across the cosmos
YEVPATORIYA, Ukraine (AFP) Jul 06, 2003
Interstellar communication took a giant leap forward Sunday, when a Ukrainian space center sent several messages across the cosmos hoping to reach extraterrestrials 30 or 40 light years away.

For a small fee of 15 or 20 dollars (13-18 euros), people could have their messages beamed by radiotelescope from the Yevpatoriya center, an official said, though the jury was still out whether anyone would answer.

"Hi boys, I need an extraterrestrial visa. Send me an invitation," an American from Houston, Texas wrote.

"People from all continents are addressing things that matter to them, they want to find kindred spirits in the universe," Richard Braaspad, who heads the "Cosmic Call" project said.

The joint Russian-US-Ukrainian communications venture is also a financial shot in the arm for the space center, Alexander Zaitsev of the project said.

But it went beyond offering a few Earthlings the chance to reach out and touch someone or something far, far away -- the telescope also sent a reproduction of a planisphere or map of the stars and that of a human being, along with mathematical, geological and biological information.

Zaitsev said the messages were aimed at constellations which have stars similar to the sun, between 30 and 40 light years away, including the Great Bear and Cancer.

The first time space scientists tried to reach extraterrestrial civilizations was in 1974 from an observatory in Puerto Rico.

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