. . . advanced civilizations might be operating radio beacons, possibly to attract the attention of emerging societies and bring them into contact with a community of long-established intelligent societies existing throughout the galaxy.
Do we call in the Soviets for advice?
Understandably, extraterrestrial relations take a backseat to the space station on NASA’s list of priorities. But an independent, ad hoc group of scientists and scholars has been working on these questions, and after much mulling they have crafted sober suggestions for handling First Contact.
Goodman–who also works as a guest commentator for Voice of America, writes a column for the Los Angeles Times syndicate, consults for the RAND Corporation, and has authored several books on national security and the Vietnam and Korean wars–is a realist. “I sent [the memo] to President Bush’s national security adviser, which probably means that it’s in a large container resembling a garbage can,” he says. “But the purpose was to show that you could write seriously about the subject.”
In the brief history of international space law, Goodman learned, the only specific reference to extraterrestrial life was in a 1979 UN treaty titled “Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.” That treaty requires all space-faring nations to “promptly inform the secretary general, as well as the public and international scientific community . . . of any indication of organic life.”
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This treaty was too vague, Goodman concluded. What about nonorganic evidence, like robot probes? Another problem is that, unlike the earlier treaty, the 1979 one has not been signed by either the U.S. or the Soviet Union. Only 11 countries have signed so far–France, Austria, India, Morocco, Peru, Guatemala, the Philippines, Uruguay, Romania, Chile, and the Netherlands–hardly the vanguard in the search for extraterrestrials.
Though Tarter is a big Star Trek fan, she knew that interstellar travel wasn’t as easy as “Ahead Warp Factor 7, Mr. Sulu.” She explained to Goodman that even at the velocity of light–the universal speed limit, according to Einstein’s theory of relativity–a journey to the nearest stars would take years. And boosting a modest payload to a fraction of the speed of light would require hundreds of thousands of times more energy than the U.S. electric industry generates in a year.
