Project Cyclops is a 1971 NASA project that investigated how the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) should be conducted. As a NASA product the report is in the public domain. The project team created a design for coordinating large numbers of radio telescopes to search for Earth-like radio signals at a distance of up to 1,000 light-years to find intelligent life. The proposed design involving between 1,000 and 2,500 steerable dishes of 100m diameter each was shelved due to costs. However, the report became the basis for much of the SETI work to follow.
The approach NASA devised for SETI was to develop a framework with the present understanding of the universe, and then use that as the basis for increasing the probability of discovering extraterrestrials. Making no assumptions, apart from that extraterrestrial radio signals exist, it focused on scanning the skies for signals that could indicate the presence of intelligent life forms.[1]
Original conclusions
The main conclusions, taken verbatim from the report. The italics are in the original, as is the flowery language (see for example conclusion 12):
1. It is vastly less expensive to look for and to send signals than to attempt contact by spaceship or by probes. This conclusion is based not on the present state of our technological prowess but on our present knowledge of physical law.
2. The order-of-magnitude uncertainty in the average distance between communicative civilizations in the galaxy strongly argues for an expandable search system. The search can be begun with the minimum system that would be effective for nearby stars. The system is then expanded and the search carried farther into space until success is achieved or a new search strategy is initiated.
3. Of all the communication means at our disposal, microwaves are the best. They are also the best for other races and for the same reasons. The energy required at these wavelengths is least and the necessary stabilities and collecting areas are fundamentally easier to realize and cheaper than at shorter wavelengths.
Microwave window as seen by a ground-based system. From NASA report SP-419: SETI - the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
4. The best part of the microwave region is the low frequency end of the "microwave window"- frequencies from about 1 to 2 or 3GHz. Again, this is because greater absolute frequency stability is possible there, the Doppler rates are lower, beamwidths are broader for a given gain, and collecting area is cheaper than at the high end of the window.
5. Nature has provided us with a rather narrow quiet band in this best part of the spectrum that seems especially marked for interstellar contact. It lies between the spectral lines of hydrogen (1420MHz) and the hydroxyl radical (1662MHz). Standing like the Om and the Um on either side of a gate, these two emissions of the disassociation products of water beckon all water-based life to search for its kind at the age-old meeting place of all species: the water hole.
6. It is technologically feasible today to build phased antenna arrays operable in the 1- to 3GHz region with total collecting areas of 100 or more square kilometers. The Cyclops system is not nearly this large, but we see no technological limits that would prevent its expansion to such a size.
7. With antenna arrays equivalent to a single antenna a few kilometers in diameter at both the transmitting and receiving end, microwave communication is possible over intergalactic distances, and high-speed communication is possible over large interstellar distances. Thus rapid information transmission can occur once contact has been confirmed between two civilizations.
8. In the search phase we cannot count on receiving signals beamed at us by directive antennas. Neither can we afford to overlook this possibility. Beamed signals may be radiated at relatively low powers by communicative races to as many as a thousand nearby likely stars and for very long times. Long range beacons, intended to be detectable at any of the million or so likely stars within 1000 light-years, will probably be omnidirectional and very high powered ( W).
9. Beacons will very likely be circularly polarized and will surely be highly monochromatic. Spectral widths of 1Hz or less are probable. They will convey information at a slow rate and in a manner that does not seriously degrade their detectability. How best to respond will be contained in this information.
10. The efficient detection of beacons involves searching in the frequency domain with very high resolution (1Hz or less). One of the major contributions of the Cyclops study is a data processing method that permits a 100MHz frequency band to be searched simultaneously with a resolution of 0.1Hz. The Cyclops system provides a receiver with a billion simultaneous narrow channel outputs. Although the Cyclops system bandwidth is 100MHz, no very great technological barriers prevent widening it to 200MHz. This would permit searching the entire "water hole" simultaneously. If our conclusion as to the appropriateness of this band is correct, the problem posed by the frequency dimension of the search can be considered solved.
11. The cost of a system capable of making an effective search, using the techniques we have considered, is on the order of 6 to 10 billion dollars, and this sum would be spent over a period of 10 to 15 years. If contact were achieved early in this period, we might either stop expanding the system or be encouraged to go on to make further contacts. The principal cost in the Cyclops design is in the antenna structures. Adopting an upper frequency limit of 3GHz rather than 10GHz could reduce the antenna cost by a factor of two.
12. The search will almost certainly take years, perhaps decades and possibly centuries. To undertake so enduring a program requires not only that the search be highly automated, it requires a long term funding commitment. This in turn requires faith. Faith that the quest is worth the effort, faith that man will survive to reap the benefits of success, and faith that other races are, and have been, equally curious and determined to expand their horizons. We are almost certainly not the first intelligent species to undertake the search. The first races to do so undoubtedly followed their listening phase with long transmission epochs, and so have later races to enter the search. Their perseverance will be our greatest asset in our beginning listening phase.
13. The search for extraterrestrial intelligent life is a legitimate scientific undertaking and should be included as part of a comprehensive and balanced space program. We believe that the exploration of the Solar System was and is a proper initial step in the space program but should not be considered its only ultimate goal. The quest for other intelligent life fires the popular imagination and might receive support from those critics who now question the value of landings on "dead" planets and moons.
14. A great deal more study of the problem and of the optimum system design should precede the commitment to fund the search program. However, it is not too early to fund these studies. Out of such studies would undoubtedly emerge a system with greater a capability-to-cost ratio than the first Cyclops design we have proposed.
15. The existence of more than one Cyclops-like system has such great value in providing complete sky coverage, continuous reception of detected signals, and in long base-line studies, that international cooperation should be solicited and encouraged by complete dissemination of information. The search should, after all, represent an effort of all mankind, not just of one country.
More modern perspective
Many, but not all, of the conclusions have withstood the test of time - there is a chapter in the book SETI 2020[2] that revisits the conclusions of the Cyclops report. Particular differences include:
Points 4 and 5: Cyclops preferred the low end of the microwave band. With technology advances, the disadvantages of higher frequencies are smaller, and they have other advantages. Anything from microwave to optical looks roughly equivalent.
Point 6: The highest frequency of such an array can, and should be, much higher.
Point 8: Beacons will probably be pointed, and not omnidirectional. Modern processing power makes this possible, and it is much more energy efficient.
Point 9: Although not called out in SETI 2020, the point "Beacons ... will surely be highly monochromatic," has suffered substantial criticism. As Earth's communication technology moves toward spread spectrum signals, SETI observations are being augmented with searches for high bandwidth signals. Furthermore, there are now proposals for beacons that are almost as easy to detect as monochromatic signals, but can contain information as well.[3]
Point 10: The optical processing of Cyclops should be replaced by digital signal processing.
Current availability
In the 1970s, 10,000 copies of the Cyclops report were distributed by NASA. It is reasonable to assume that most major figures within the current SETI community have seen the document.
As of the 1990s, the Cyclops report had long been out of print. In 1995 The SETI League collaborated with the SETI Institute to reprint this important historical document.[4] Project Cyclops, Second Printing, is currently available through The SETI League.[5] It went on sale in June, 1996, honoring the 25th anniversary of the opening Project Cyclops meeting. John Billingham, who co-chaired the Cyclops team, wrote a dedication to Bernard M. Oliver, which appears in the new edition, along with introductory remarks by SETI League president Richard Factor and executive director H. Paul Shuch.
In the 2000s, NASA digitized the original report and made it available on-line at no cost.[6]
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than other radio waves but longer than infrared waves. Its wavelength ranges from about one meter to one millimeter, corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz, broadly construed. A more common definition in radio-frequency engineering is the range between 1 and 100 GHz, or between 1 and 3000 GHz . The prefix micro- in microwave is not meant to suggest a wavelength in the micrometer range; rather, it indicates that microwaves are small, compared to the radio waves used in prior radio technology.
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a collective term for scientific searches for intelligent extraterrestrial life, for example, monitoring electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other planets.
A radio telescope is a specialized antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum emitted by astronomical objects, just as optical telescopes are the main observing instrument used in traditional optical astronomy which studies the light wave portion of the spectrum coming from astronomical objects. Unlike optical telescopes, radio telescopes can be used in the daytime as well as at night.
The Kardashev scale is a method of measuring a civilization's level of technological advancement based on the amount of energy it is capable of harnessing and using. The measure was proposed by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev (1932–2019) in 1964 and was named after him.
The SETI Institute is a not-for-profit research organization incorporated in 1984 whose mission is to explore, understand, and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe, and to use this knowledge to inspire and guide present and future generations, sharing knowledge with the public, the press, and the government. SETI stands for the "search for extraterrestrial intelligence".
Parkes Observatory is a radio astronomy observatory, located 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of the town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. It hosts Murriyang, the 64 m CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope also known as "The Dish", along with two smaller radio telescopes. The 64 m dish was one of several radio antennae used to receive live television images of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Its scientific contributions over the decades led the ABC to describe it as "the most successful scientific instrument ever built in Australia" after 50 years of operation.
Project Ozma was a search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) experiment started in 1960 by Cornell University astronomer Frank Drake, at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank at Green Bank, West Virginia. The object of the experiment was to search for signs of life in distant planetary systems through interstellar radio waves. The program was named after Princess Ozma, ruler of the fictional land of Oz, inspired by L. Frank Baum's supposed communication with Oz by radio to learn of the events in the books taking place after The Emerald City of Oz. The search was publicized in articles in the popular media of the time, such as Time magazine and was described as the first modern SETI experiment.
Earth–Moon–Earth communication (EME), also known as Moon bounce, is a radio communications technique that relies on the propagation of radio waves from an Earth-based transmitter directed via reflection from the surface of the Moon back to an Earth-based receiver.
The Wow! signal was a strong narrowband radio signal detected on August 15, 1977, by Ohio State University's Big Ear radio telescope in the United States, then used to support the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The signal appeared to come from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius and bore expected hallmarks of extraterrestrial origin.
The communication with extraterrestrial intelligence (CETI) is a branch of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) that focuses on composing and deciphering interstellar messages that theoretically could be understood by another technological civilization. The best-known CETI experiment of its kind was the 1974 Arecibo message composed by Frank Drake.
The Allen Telescope Array (ATA), formerly known as the One Hectare Telescope (1hT), is a radio telescope array dedicated to astronomical observations and a simultaneous search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). The array is situated at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Shasta County, 290 miles (470 km) northeast of San Francisco, California.
Dr. John Billingham, BM BCh, was a British Physician and later director of the SETI Program Office and Director of the Life Sciences Division at the NASA Ames Research Center in the USA. After retiring from NASA he became a Trustee of the SETI Institute Board of Directors.
SERENDIP is a Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program originated by the Berkeley SETI Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley.
Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to an antenna which radiates the waves. They are received by another antenna connected to a radio receiver. In addition to communication, radio is used for radar, radio navigation, remote control, remote sensing, and other applications.
The cultural impact of extraterrestrial contact is the corpus of changes to terrestrial science, technology, religion, politics, and ecosystems resulting from contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. This concept is closely related to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), which attempts to locate intelligent life as opposed to analyzing the implications of contact with that life.
Technosignature or technomarker is any measurable property or effect that provides scientific evidence of past or present technology. Technosignatures are analogous to biosignatures, which signal the presence of life, whether intelligent or not. Some authors prefer to exclude radio transmissions from the definition, but such restrictive usage is not widespread. Jill Tarter has proposed that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) be renamed "the search for technosignatures". Various types of technosignatures, such as radiation leakage from megascale astroengineering installations such as Dyson spheres, the light from an extraterrestrial ecumenopolis, or Shkadov thrusters with the power to alter the orbits of stars around the Galactic Center, may be detectable with hypertelescopes. Some examples of technosignatures are described in Paul Davies's 2010 book The Eerie Silence, although the terms "technosignature" and "technomarker" do not appear in the book.
Breakthrough Listen is a project to search for intelligent extraterrestrial communications in the Universe. With $100 million in funding and thousands of hours of dedicated telescope time on state-of-the-art facilities, it is the most comprehensive search for alien communications to date. The project began in January 2016, and is expected to continue for 10 years. It is a component of Yuri Milner's Breakthrough Initiatives program. The science program for Breakthrough Listen is based at Berkeley SETI Research Center, located in the Astronomy Department at the University of California, Berkeley.
Microwave Radiometer (MWR) is an instrument on the Juno orbiter sent to planet Jupiter. MWR is a multi-wavelength microwave radiometer for making observations of Jupiter's deep atmosphere. MWR can observe radiation from 1.37 to 50 cm in wavelength, from 600 MHz to 22 GHz in frequencies. This supports its goal of observing the previously unseen atmospheric features and chemical abundances hundreds of miles or kilometers into Jupiter's atmosphere. MWR is designed to detect six different frequencies in that range using separate antennas.
The Berkeley SETI Research Center (BSRC) conducts experiments searching for optical and electromagnetic transmissions from intelligent extraterrestrial civilizations. The center is based at the University of California, Berkeley.
BLC1 was a candidate SETI radio signal detected and observed during April and May 2019, and first reported on 18 December 2020, spatially coincident with the direction of the Solar System's closest star, Proxima Centauri.
↑ Harp, Gerald R.; Robert F. Ackermann; Samantha K. Blair; Jack Arbunich; etal. (2011). "A new class of SETI beacons that contain information". In Douglas Vokoch (ed.). Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence. SUNY press. p.45. arXiv:1211.6470.
↑ Oliver, Barney; etal. (1996). Project Cyclops, Second Printing. Lettle Ferry, NJ: SETI League and SETI Institute. ISBN0-9650707-0-0.
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