Private Money Keeps Hunt For E.T.'s Alive

(The Scientist, Vol:8, #10, May 16, 1994) Renamed Project Phoenix, for the mythical creature that rises anew from its own ashes, the world's largest, most comprehensive atempt to search for signs of intelligent life forms in other parts of the universe continues to function, despite being cut out of the federal budget last year. The effort--formerly under the aegis of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and called "Project SETI" (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)--will now be funded by a number of private sources, rather than through the money originally designated by NASA. Even the principal faces on the project remain familiar, particularly that of John Billingham, who has joined the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., as a distinguished senior scientist. The British-born physician--who in the early 1960s invented the liquid cooling garment that made moon walking possible--was the chief of SETI operations at NASA. He retired on April 22 and has signed on with the institute to help with fund-raising efforts for Project Phoenix. Operating from the SETI Institute, a 10-year-old nonprofit institution that houses and funds research and educational projects relating to the search for extraterrestrial life, Phoenix employs a staff of seven scientists and five engineers and software specialists who are currently working on upgrading the equipment needed for collecting and analyzing data from radio telescopes (see story on page 8). The raw data received will be in the form of radio signals picked up by telescopes trained on specific target stars or solar systems. When Congress instructed NASA to pull all funding from its Project SETI last October, the scientists at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., and the nearby SETI Institute began to look for alternative sources of funding. Their efforts seem to have borne fruit: Six months after the announcement was made, $4.5 million of the initial goal of $7.3 million--estimated as the amount necessary to carry the effort through mid-1995--is in hand. Much of the funding for the project goes toward equipment upgrade and deployment costs, as well as observations of outer space. "We only barely broke stride," says Thomas Pierson, executive director of the SETI Institute, referring to the disruptions to the work in progress caused by the withdrawal of NASA support. "Of course, we were all depressed over the cutback news, and there were delays with getting some of the equipment, but overall there was only a slight bump in the road." But Bernard M. Oliver, a retired vice president of research and development for the Hewlett-Packard Co. in Palo Alto, Calif., and now the senior technical expert and science adviser for the SETI Institute, is apprehensive that the elation over the funding may yet be premature. "We still desperately need more money," he warns, noting that the project will need about $3 million annually (after the initial $7.3 million) if it is to continue with the extraterrestrial search as originally planned. Staff members of the SETI Institute and Project Phoenix are continuing their efforts to raise money from the private sector for both their immediate and long-term needs. The bulk of the funding obtained so far has come from high- tech entrepreneurs. Supporters include the founders of the multinational Hewlett-Packard Co. (both David Packard and William Hewlett have made substantial private donations); Gordon Moore, a cofounder and the chairman of the board of Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel Corp.; Paul Allen, a cofounder of Microsoft Corp. in Redmond, Wash., and chief executive officer of the Seattle-based Asymetrix Corp.; and Mitchell Kapor, founder of Cambridge, Mass.-based Lotus Development Corp. and chairman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, headquartered in Washington, D.C. A sixth person, who has chosen to remain anonymous, and Oliver have also made significant contributions, say SETI Institute officials. Indeed, Oliver has played a key role in ensuring the relatively smooth ride Project Phoenix has enjoyed in its transition from NASA to the private sector. Says Thomas McDonough, an astrophysicist who heads a smaller-scale SETI effort for the Planetary Society, based in Pasadena, Calif., "The reason for their [Project Phoenix's] spectacular success in getting the money and raising the public interest is Dr. Oliver." "We had to act fast," says Oliver, who--having lived and worked in California's Silicon Valley for several years--was able to personally approach some of the major donors. "It was either that or die." "It would have been a crime to shut [Project SETI] down at a time when the technology was in place and all the equipment designed and built," says Intel's Moore, referring to the availability of radio telescopes at various locations and the development of the signal-processing equipment designed by SETI scientists. "This is one of the most interesting questions humans ask themselves." Jill Tarter, formerly the project scientist of NASA's SETI effort and now the manager of Project Phoenix, points out the program's use of the scientific process, rather than arcane religious or philosophical speculation, to address the question of whether there is intelligent life originating outside Earth. "The implications of somebody being out there are most profound," she says, "and throughout history the question has been in the realm of priests and philosophers. Now that we have the technology, [scientists] are in a position to change that." "It is extremely important that as many of us that can, get into the effort of searching, so that the chances of finding a signal are increased," says McDonough. "We [the Planetary Society] were extremely disturbed when Congress ordered NASA to shut down their effort." Though it took up a very small percentage of NASA's annual budget, SETI has been a constant target of attack by various congressional leaders (S. Veggeberg, The Scientist, July 6, 1992, page 5). According to Pierson, the final axe came as a result of political maneuvering rather than any solid scientific objections. "I think all scientists are alarmed at what is happening to science and research funding," he says. And should SETI efforts yield something that is truly a sign from the heavens (scientists predict that radio signals from an intelligent source will be decodable through the application of mathematical or physical principles), what will the next step be? The answer to that $60 million--the sum spent by NASA on Project SETI--question, says Frank Drake, SETI Institute president, is to "let the whole world know." Adds Tarter, "The signals are not being sent just to California or America, but to the whole world. They are everyone's property."

Private Money Keeps Hunt For E.T.'s Alive

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