SearchLites Vol. 8 No. 4, Autumn 2002 The Quarterly Newsletter of The SETI League, Inc. Offices: Refining our Focus 433 Liberty Street PO Box 555 by H. Paul Shuch, Ph.D., Executive Director Little Ferry NJ 07643 USA When The SETI League was born, now nearly eight years ago, founder Richard Factor envi- sioned it as a ham radio club for advanced microwave experimenters, and I prepared its Vision and Phone: Mission Statements accordingly. Project Argus, our first major scientific effort, contemplated (201) 641-1770 Facsimile: thousands of amateur radio telescopes, built and operated by dedicated ham radio operators, coor- (201) 641-1771 dinated in a global search for radio emissions from distant civilizations. We’ve achieved modest Email: success in inching toward that lofty goal, and in fact a microwave search for ETI still seems like a
[email protected] pretty good idea. But, as the sailor says, time and technology wait for no man. Web: www.setileague.org That the focus of SETI is shifting is demonstrated by the diversity of papers to be found in the President: Proceedings of our first two SETI League Technical Symposia. The expected papers on micro- Richard Factor wave receivers, amplifiers, and antennas are there, to be sure. But they have been joined by excel- Registered Agent: lent treatises on Optical SETI, Gamma ray bursters, interstellar probes, Lunar radio astronomy, Marc Arnold, Esq. space archaeology, panspermia, and a host of related and not-so-related topics. SETI is no longer Secretary: solely the domain of ham microwave geeks; today we embrace new approaches, fresh challenges, A.