Nobody Listening in Washington? Then Send a Message to Gliese 581d…It May Work Out Better in the (Very) Long Run

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

Once again, Radio Australia has come through with a fascinating story.  In celebration of Australia’s 2009 National Science Week (August 15-23, 2009) and The International Year of Astronomy,  Cosmos magazine has put together this project:

Welcome to HELLO FROM EARTH.

This site is collecting messages that will be transmitted to Gliese 581d, a planet outside our Solar System which may support life. Comments are moderated: inappropriate messages will be rejected, and messages must be in English (so we can evaluate them).

Register here to send your message before the deadline: 5pm Monday 24 August 2009 Sydney time (07:00 GMT Monday 24 August 2009)

Gliese 581d, our nearest neighbor outside our Solar System which may support life,  is about 20.3 light years away from Earth in the constellation Libra, so anybody/anything out there might be interested in relating to us here on Earth.  However, many of us won’t be around to find out if they respond, since the message won’t be received until December 2029!

Artist rendition courtesy European Southern Observatory............. Gliese 581d is the outlying planet in the Gliese 581 system, and orbits its parent star every 66.8 days. It may be covered by a large and deep ocean and is the first serious 'waterworld' candidate discovered beyond our Solar System.

NASA will be sending the messages that are posted to the site right after the end of Science Week so why not check out the site, which is crammed full of interesting info, and send a message!

There’s an interesting, short video featuring editors of Cosmos magazine to watch and more details on Gliese 581d and other “exoplanets.”

The countdown clock will be running until the time for messages is over, so go on over and express yourself before time runs out on August 24!  There are messages from around the world (including mine) which are fun to read!

Heck, if your Congressperson isn’t responding to your concerns, maybe some kind soul on Gliese 581d may get back to you…someday!

More info at the site:

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