14 DAY TRIAL // If Mars were populated by aliens, our brothers and sisters from space would be in for the surprise of a lifetime this coming Friday. Provided that they also had the technology to record or at least made heads or tails of the messages sent their way all the way from Earth, that is.
Not to beat about the bush, a private company dubbed Uwingu promises that, come November 28, it will use radio telescopes to beam tens of thousands of messages to the Red Planet.
These messages, some of which include pictures, will travel through space at the speed of light and will take about 15 minutes to reach Mars. The way Uwingu sees things, this little adventure will be kind of like a global shout-out from Earth to the Red Planet.
“All Beam Me messages will be sent together by radio – at the speed of light – as a global shout-out from Earth to Mars on 28 November 2014,” the company writes in a statement detailing this project.
Why November 28 and not some other day?
Those familiar with the history of space exploration probably know that, 50 years ago, on November 28, 1964, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (this is NASA's actual and quite fancy name) launched its Mariner 4 spacecraft.
About 7 months later, the spacecraft reached Mars and flew by it. During this historic flyby, Mariner 4 managed to take several photos of the surface of the Red Planet, which it successfully returned to Earth. These close-ups of Mars are the very first of their kind in the history of space exploration.
Private company Uwingu wishes to beam tens of thousands of messages to the Red Planet on November 28 and not on any other day because it wants this endeavor to be a way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Mariner 4 spacecraft's historic flyby.
You can join in on the fun as well
The nearly 90,000 messages that Uwingu will soon send to Mars with the help of radio telescopes all come from ordinary folks. Mind you, these folks all had to cough out some money to be able to join in on the global shout-out.
Thus, a message comprising merely a person's name has a price tag of $4.95 (about €4). A somewhat longer message that comes complete with a picture, on the other hand, has a transmission fee of up to $99 (roughly €80).
The good news is that, since the messages won't be transmitted to Mars until two days from now, those who haven't yet had the chance to get behind this endeavor can still sign up for Uwingu's Beam Me to Mars project.
It's important to note that, although Uwingu is a for-profit company, money obtained by means of this project will serve to fund space science, exploration and education. “It’s fun, it’s inspiring, it’s futuristic, and all messages help fund space research, education, and exploration!” the company explains.
Although the nearly 90,000 messages won't be read or recorded by anyone on Mars, copies of them will be delivered to Congress and NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and to the United Nations in New York City, US. The idea is to show policy makers that regular folks care about space exploration way more than assumed.
