Friday, April 8, 1960: The search for alien life

From a mountaintop in Green Bank, West Virgina, radio astronomer Frank Drake aims a radio telescope toward the "nearby" (11 light years away) stars Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti and begins listening. It's part of "Project Ozma," the first systematic attempt to detect extraterrestrial intelligence (by searching for artificial radio signals). The project would last through July; no alien transmissions or messages were received.

* More about Project Ozma: @

* Recollections from Frank Drake: @

* More on Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti: @ and @

* National Radio Astronomy Observatory site: @

* SETI Institute website: @

* How to set up your computer to monitor radio telescope data: @

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