THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE Proceedings of an NRAO Workshop held at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Green Bank, West Virginia May 20, 21, 22, 1985 1960 1985 Honoring the 25th Anniversary of Project OZMA Edited by K. I. Kellermann and G. A. Seielstad THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE Proceedings of an NRAO Workshop held at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Green Bank, West Virginia May 20, 21, 22, 1985 Edited by K. I. Kellermann and GL A. Seielstad Workshop Na 11 Distributed by: National Radio Astronomy Observatory P.O. Box 2 Green Bank, WV 24944-0002 USA The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is operated by Associated Universities, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation. Copyright © 1986 NRAO/AUI. All Rights Reserved. CONTENTS Page I. KEYNOTE ADDRESS Life in Space and Humanity on Earth . Sebastian von Hoeimer 3 II. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Project OZMA Frank D. Drake 17 Project OZMA - How It Really Was J. Fred Crews 27 Evolution of Our Thoughts on the Best Strategy for SETI Michael D. Papagiannis 31 III. SEARCH STRATEGIES The Search for Biomolecules in Space Lewis E. Snyder 39 Mutual Help in SETI's David H. Frisch 51 A Symbiotic SETI Search Thomas M. Bania 61 Should the Search be Made Optically? John J. Broderiok 67 A Search for SETI Targets Jane L. Russell 69 A Milky Way Search Strategy for Extra¬ terrestrial Intelligence .... Woodruff T. Sullivan, III 75 IV. CURRENT PROGRAMS SETI Observations Worldwide Jill C. Tarter 79 Ultra-Narrowband SETI at Harvard/Smithsonian . Paul Horowitz 99 The NASA SETI Program: An Overview Bernard M. Oliver 121 Narrowband Signal Detection in the SETI Field Test D. Kent Cullers and Stanley R. Deans 135 Are 100 Million Channels Enough? Ivan Linsoott 143 The NASA SETI Program at JPL . Sam Gulkis and Edward T. Olsen 161 Radio Astronomy Aspects of the NASA SETI Sky Survey Michael J. Klein 179 Macro Events in a SETI Archive Robert S. Dixon 187 Small SETI Systems Robert H. Gray 205 i V. A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE The Nature of Technological Civilizations . Robert T. Rood 215 Manifestation of Intelligence Implications for SETI Thomas B. U. Kuiper 221 How Do We Reply? Gerrit L. Verschuur 233 VI. PANEL DISCUSSION 248 Frank Drake9 Kenneth Kellevmanna Sebastian von Roemer, Michael Papagiannis, George Swenson, Charles Seeger and Bernard Oliver PREFACE 1985 marked the Silver Anniversary of Project Ozma, the first search for extraterrestrial intelligent life. Conducted in Green Bank in April and June 1960, shortly after the National Radio Astronomy Observatory had been established, the project was a longshot gamble for a young scientific organization and a young scientist. The gamble paid off; not that it found any extraterrestrials but rather that it opened an entirely new field of scientific investigation. Although many radio searches for extraterrestrial intelligence have been made since I960, each with increasing sensitivity and sophistication, the biggest step was the one made by Project Ozma. Frank Drake's experiment was unique; it was the first! To commemorate this occasion, a Workshop was held in Green Bank from May 20 to 22, 1985. The field is still young enough that many of the original participants in Project Ozma could attend. Their presence and the fact that the workshop was held during the same season as Project Ozma 25 years earlier, coupled with the timelessness of Green Bank and the looming presence of the Tatel Telescope, all helped to create the proper atmosphere for the gathering. One purpose of the Workshop was to document the history of the original investigation, not in a dry archival sense only, but in a way that captured the creative, human dimension of the undertaking. The appropriate talks have been organized under the heading "Historical Perspective." Programs that are underway or about to become so have been collected under "Current Programs." The health of the field is documented by the number of talks identified as "Search Strategies." Clearly the number of ideas exceeds the resources of investigators to carry them out immediately. Talks collected under "A Glimpse of the Future" show that human ingenuity is unlikely ever to be exhausted. In a field such as SETI, this characteristic will remain an essential; it is good to know it is available in such abundant supply. We attempted to retain the informality and vitality of the oral presen¬ tations by providing, in essence, written transcriptions lightly edited by the speakers, however, to achieve some conformity with the rules of written English. The discussions following each talk and the summary Panel Dis¬ cussion likewise attempt to record the spontaneity of informal exchanges among participants. The editors took the liberty of rearranging the order of presentation of the talks. Occasionally, then, reference will be made to a "previous speaker" whose contribution has not yet appeared in the written Proceedings. We ask the reader's forbearance. The occasion of the Workshop also honored another SETI pioneer, Sebas¬ tian von Hoerner, upon his retirement from NRAO and return to his native Germany. Sebastian and his family will be sorely missed by his friends in Green Bank. We hope they return often. The paper he presented at the Workshop justifies by itself the publication of these Proceedings. Sebas¬ tian's contributions to astronomy and the respect of his friends and col¬ leagues have been eloquently described by John Rraus, another pioneer of SETI and radio astronomy, as follows: iii Astronomer, engineer, ■philosopher, scientist, oos- mologisty Sebastian von Hoemer's interests are diverse and his insights run deep. From homologous antennas to galactic cultures, from an expanding universe to gravi¬ tational collapse3 his thoughts encompass the infinite and address the ultimate question. Sebastian von Hoemer is our friend, our co-explorer and our Elder Statesman of the Cosmos. Shortly before the Workshop, we learned of the death of Joseph Shklov- sky, who had been expected to attend. Shklovsky was one of the first scientists to consider the question of extraterrestrial intelligence. His impact on astronomy and SET1 was broad and far reaching. His contributions are so numerous and enduring that his influence was evident at the Workshop. But the investigations he supported and encouraged will have to be carried out by his scientific successors. We hope these Proceedings demonstrate a commitment to accept this inherited responsibility and to pass it on to succeeding generations. Few fields of human endeavor are likely to require as enduring a commitment as SET1. Carl Sagan, who was unable to participate in the Workshop, prepared a short statement in memory of Joseph Shklovsky which was signed by all of the conference participants and sent to his widow and associates in Moscow. We dedicate these Proceedings of the Green Bank SET1 Workshop to the memory of our friend and colleague, Joseph Shklovsky. No workshop is successful without the contributions of many individu¬ als. We would like particularly to thank Mrs. Beaty Sheets for her support during the conference and in preparing this volume for publication, Wally Oref for his audio-visual assistance, Mrs. Becky Warner and many others for arrangements, and Associated Universities, Inc. for financial support. Jill Tarter provided the cover illustration. May the Golden Anniversary of Project Ozma, to be held in Green Bank in 2010, be as stimulating and successful. Perhaps, if we are lucky, that event will concentrate on preparation of an appropriate return message. Ken Kellermann and George Seielstad Green Bank, West Virginia March, 1986 iv In memory of I. S. SHKLOVSKII As astronomers celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence, we mourn the passing of I. S. Shklovskii, one of the pioneers in this promising but still unfulfilled subject. We send our deep sympathies to his family, friends, and colleagues. Through his writings, his students, and his influence on the world scientific community, this brilliant and courageous man lives on. Green Bank. West Virginia May 22, 1985 Sdtbkgjm fa tOl ^ NUM A/AS* /AM* £*4*u*> thjU MiT fe«fc>«r+' Gl**t4 Wf* /Jf.CAJtj IL /£/ . CmmtSt L. Semw- >. KStlX CUM.6 U*.ir~rt. m tibvit Kl*H* 3FL hlR/W* JPL. i&Mhz JPL 44 S T. O lse.t\ £ir£5- jUAb TZ** "T^k. hs—n m f- 6 C. Si / T- r&AO £C,i*. mf Atutylk. dJjLAo <* AflCAo A/KA0 AJe** LL+sur. f-l QJM. ' UjJb*~*JK_ *>*40 A/ K PKAO NftAO fh^k ScHat I VK+O - c. 1/ AfUfO *1*0 WeiiA«v mUno o-g WtU<J (MM iT U Morew.^'*- fWvkrdl OM'iv. MAAO W. r5A.-ne.LA iu-IUOIS. KK+Cj A'&v: Otfkw By# VPX IStL Jt-Z. Ato**' AM* J.R. C.<. V SETI WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS W. Baan - Arecibo Observatory B. Meredith - NRAO M. Balister - NRAO W. Mook - Applications Innovations T. Bania - NRAO J. Mook - Qpplications Innovations W. Batrla - U. of Illinois B. Oliver - NASA/Ames Research Ctr. G. Behrens - NRAO E. Olsen - Jet Propulsion Lab. 0. Bowyer - NRAO W. Orndorff - Strasburg H.S. (VA) P. Boyce - AAS D. Overbye - Discover Magazine J. Broderick - VPI M. Papagiannis - Boston U. R. Brown - NRAO H. Payne - NRAO W. Brundage - NRAO G. L. Peery - NRAO B. Burke - MIT K. Riegel - NSF J. Coe - NRAO R. Rood - U. of Virginia F. Crews - NRAO D. Ross - NRAO K. Cullers - NASA/Ames Research Ctr. J. Russell - ST Scl R. Dixon - Ohio State U. F. Schwab - NRAO F. Drake - U. of Calif., Santa Cruz C. Seeger - NASA/Ames Research Ctr. A. Farris - NRAO G. Seielstad - NRAO J. Findlay - NRAO R. Simon - NRAO R. Fisher - NRAO L. Snyder - U. of Illinois D. Frisch - MIT R. Stephens - IEI R. Gray - Gray Data, Chicago W.