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SETI
- Allen Telescope Array
- Optical SETI
- Interstellar Message Construction
- Project Phoenix 1995-2004
- Background Science
- History of SETI
- Center for SETI Research Team
- Other people doing SETI
- Hollywood's View of SETI
We're Back!
by Peter Backus, Observing Programs Manager
As I walked down the long corridor to the Arecibo control room, I encountered several people who exclaimed Youre back! as they gave me a hearty handshake. The surprise was natural. The observatory staff is accustomed to several months between our visits. This time weve been away only about six weeks, but that was only one difference. Jose Cruz, head of operations, saw the real change. He greeted me with Where are your boxes?
Between previous observing runs, we always sent most of the search system back to the Institute for further development and then back to the observatory. For our last run, we arrived with 26 large boxes of equipment and spent a little more than a week setting it up and testing that everything survived the journey. This time, with only six weeks between runs, and that span punctuated by the holiday season, we decided to leave the system at Arecibo.
Jane Jordan, Ben Sanchez, and I arrived at the observatory on Wednesday shortly before noon with a short list of things to do. Half of the system had been turned off to accommodate work on observatory facilities. Those Programmable Detection Modules needed software upgrades since development continued even without a full system. Half of the hard disks in the system needed firmware upgrades. (Firmware is a type of software that controls how hardware, in this case a disk drive, operates.) All of the upgrades and general testing of the system took an afternoon and much of the next day. We finished by mid afternoon, in time for our scheduled tests with the telescope from four to six. All systems checked out and we were ready to observe with about one day of work for three people.
Getting ready for observing was a snap this time. Keeping the system together and running made a big difference. Thats one of the reasons I look forward to observing at the Allen Telescope Array (ATA), well operate seven days a week. I also look forward to the next generation search system designed for SETI on the ATA (its called SonATA). Working on the new telescope and search system will keep us busy for quite a while. In a few years perhaps well have a small, more powerful search system to ship to Arecibo. Should we wish toI know Im going to miss the Arecibo Observatory hallway where my good friends greet me with a smile and say Youre back!