Australia’s Science Minister, Senator Kim Carr, is sending an interstellar text message to the planet Gliese 581d. It’s 20.3 light years from Earth – that’s 119 trillion miles – and it’s believed to be the closest Earth-like planet that could support life. His message, which marks the country’s National Science Week, said: “Hello from Australia on the planet we call Earth. These messages express our people’s dreams for the future. We want to share those dreams with you.”
The message, travelling at the speed of light, will arrive in 2029. Anyone else can add their 160-character message to the senator’s greeting by visiting www.hellofromearth.net before 24th August. Of course, they’re not really ‘text messages’ in the mobile phone sense…
[Sources: TheAustralian.news.com.au; alp.org.au]