Three Light-Years! That’s how far the Hello From Earth message has traveled since being transmitted from a giant NASA antenna in Australia to the exoplanet Gliese 581d exactly three years ago today. As of 7 PM California time tonight (12 PM Sydney time on Tuesday, August 28), the radio signal containing 25,878 goodwill text messages—including one by me—will have ventured across 18 trillion miles (29 trillion kilometers) of deep space...which, as stated at the very start of this Blog entry, equals a distance of three light-years. The signal, despite traveling 186,000 miles per second (or 671 million miles per hour, or um, 1 billion kilometers per hour), will still take 17 years to reach the Gliese 581 star system. Um, I can wait.

On another note, the Sent Forever signal that was transmitted from the United Kingdom at 8:07 PM (California time) on October 5, 2009 is 17 trillion miles (27.4 trillion kilometers) from Earth as of this typing. I stated in past entries that I was gonna submit another message through Sent Forever, but unfortunately, it still looks like this won’t happen. The Sent Forever folks stated on their website back in 2010 that they were unable to renew their transmission license... I shouldn't have waited. But it's all good. Gliese 581d will do.

ONE LIGHT-YEAR...AGAIN! August 27 marked one year since the Hello From Earth signal (which contains 25,878 goodwill text messages—including one by me) was transmitted from NASA’s Deep Space Network in Australia to the exoplanet Gliese 581d 20 light-years away...and today, it has been 12 months since another message I typed was relayed into space via the Sent Forever website. I wanted to send another personal greeting to any extraterrestrial being out there (yes, I say that with a grin), but unfortunately, Sent Forever has been out of action since early this year because the webmasters were unable to renew their transmission license. Oh well.

All I’m wondering is...after the recent discovery of another potentially habitable world orbiting Gliese 581, will another Hello From Earth message be transmitted towards this red dwarf star sometime in the near future? We shall see. The current message already zooming through interstellar space still has 19 years to go before it reaches this intriguing solar system.

ONE LIGHT-YEAR! That’s how far the Hello From Earth message has traveled since being transmitted from a giant NASA antenna in Australia to the exoplanet Gliese 581d exactly one year ago today. As of 7 PM California time tonight (12 PM Sydney time on Saturday, August 28), the radio signal containing 25,878 goodwill text messages—including one by me—will have ventured across 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion kilometers) of deep space...which, as stated at the very start of this Blog entry, equals a distance of one light-year. The signal, despite traveling 186,000 miles per second (or 671 million miles per hour, or um, 1 billion kilometers per hour), will still take 19 years to reach the Gliese 581 star system. By the way, have you guys seen the trailer for the upcoming sci-fi film Skyline (which comes out in theaters this November)? The Hello From Earth signal is mentioned at the very start of this trailer. Nice...



On another note, the Sent Forever signal that was transmitted from the United Kingdom at 8:07 PM (California time) on October 5 of last year is now 5.2 trillion miles (8.4 trillion kilometers) from Earth as of this typing. It's 700 billion miles (1.1 trillion kilometers) from reaching one light-year as well... I stated in past entries that I was gonna submit another message through Sent Forever, but unfortunately, looks like this won’t happen. At least temporarily, that is. The Sent Forever folks stated on their website a few months ago that they were unable to renew their transmission license... I shouldn't have procrastinated. Here’s hoping their inability to renew their license is due to financial reasons and not the service being a scam this whole time. That is all.

HELLO FROM EARTH Update... As of 7 PM California time tonight (12 PM Sydney time on Friday, June 25), it will be 43 weeks since a radio signal containing 25,878 goodwill text messages—including one by me—was transmitted to the exoplanet Gliese 581d from a giant NASA antenna in Australia. The signal will be 4.8 trillion miles (7.7 trillion kilometers) from Earth. By August 27, the radio beam will officially be 1 light-year distant from our world. Cool. The Sent Forever signal that was transmitted from the United Kingdom at 8:07 PM (California time) on October 5 last year is now 4.2 trillion miles (6.8 trillion kilometers) from Earth as of this typing.

HELLO FROM EARTH Update... As of 7 PM California time tonight (12 PM Sydney time on Friday, April 2), it will be 31 weeks since a radio signal containing 25,878 goodwill text messages—including one by me—was transmitted to the exoplanet Gliese 581d from a giant NASA antenna in Australia. The signal will be 3.5 trillion miles (5.6 trillion kilometers) from Earth. By August 27, the radio beam will officially be 1 light-year distant from our world. Awesome. The Sent Forever signal that was transmitted from the United Kingdom at 8:07 PM (California time) on October 5 last year is now 2.8 trillion miles (4.6 trillion kilometers) from Earth as of this typing. I’ll probably submit another message by late Spring.

FINAL POST of the year... Just thought I’d close out 2009 with another Hello From Earth and Sent Forever update. As of 7 PM California time tonight (12 PM Sydney time on Friday, January 1), it will be eighteen weeks since a radio signal containing 25,878 goodwill text messages—including one by me—was transmitted to the exoplanet Gliese 581d from a giant NASA antenna in Australia. The signal will be 2 trillion miles (3.2 trillion kilometers) from Earth. Awesome. The Sent Forever signal that was transmitted from the United Kingdom at 8:07 PM (California time) on October 5 is now 1.4 trillion miles (2.2 trillion kilometers) from Earth as of this typing. That is all. Happy New Years Eve, everyone!

HELLO FROM EARTH Update... As of 7 PM California time tonight (12 PM Sydney time on Friday, November 13), it has been eleven weeks since a radio signal containing 25,878 goodwill text messages—including one by me—was transmitted to the exoplanet Gliese 581d from a giant NASA antenna in Australia. The signal is now 1.2 trillion miles (1.9 trillion kilometers) from Earth. 1 trillion miles... Wow. The Sent Forever signal that was transmitted from the United Kingdom at 8:07 PM (California time) on October 5 is now 610 billion miles (982 billion kilometers) from Earth as of this typing. I’ll probably submit another message early next year.

MORE ON SENT FOREVER... On my way to work yesterday, it dawned on me as to whether or not my message was transmitted by itself on Tuesday morning, or it was combined with the messages of other people (a la Hello From Earth) before being radioed up into space. Logistics-wise, it would make more sense and be more efficient to transmit several messages simultaneously from the Goonhilly Earth Station. But if my message is traveling alone through deep space, then that’s even better for me. I don’t mind... I’ll resist the urge to wax philosophical and say that that’s pretty much the equivalent of me being a lone traveler in the universe. ‘Cause I know that this would sound really lame and pathetic to y'all.

SENT FOREVER... At 8:07 PM, California time yesterday (4:07 AM London time today), a large satellite dish in Cornwall, United Kingdom began transmitting into deep space a signal containing a text message I submitted on Monday morning. The signal was transmitted courtesy of a website known as SentForever.com...which specializes in gathering messages by people and sending them not only up into outer space, but to their loved ones via a mailed "Certificate of Transmission". This is pretty much the cosmic version of sending holiday greeting cards to folks you know.

Unlike the signal that was sent on behalf of the Hello From Earth campaign more than a month ago [this signal has traveled 643 billion miles across space, on its way to exoplanet Gliese581d (which is 20.3 light-years from Earth), since August 27], the Sent Forever transmission has no specific destination it will reach. As stated about a jillion times on the website, the message will travel through the heavens for all of eternity...hence the obvious name, Sent Forever. This bodes well for my Hello From Earth message. The Sent Forever site states that "radio waves will get weaker over time, but be assured that (my) message will travel for an eternity" in space. The radio waves are sent from Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station in the UK. Goonhilly is the site of over 60 communications dishes...making it the largest satellite tracking station in the world before satellite operations ceased there in 2008. The largest dish at Goonhilly is 32 meters (about 105 feet) in diameter, while the NASA Deep Space Network antenna that was used to transmit the Hello From Earth signal from Australia is 70 meters (or 230 feet) in diameter. If a radio signal sent from the much-smaller Goonhilly antenna can travel through the cosmos forever, then the transmission sent by NASA’s dish can also, um...last a very long time.

The difference between Sent Forever and Hello From Earth is that with Sent Forever, you have to PAY to have your message transmitted into the sky. This is because Sent Forever is an actual business that’s been around in the UK since 2007. And since Sent Forever actually has a satellite dish at Goonhilly that is primarily/supposedly modified for the company’s needs, then Sent Forever needs to charge dinero to keep the dish up and running. Also, Sent Forever needs to pay for printing as it mails out certificates to the people who sent messages...which is ironic...considering that I do believe that the point of Sent Forever was to reduce the waste caused by using greeting cards and other paper products, and letting a loved one (God, I hate using that term) know you care about ‘em through a more permanent (and environmentally friendly) method. That’s where a deep space radio signal comes from.

If you want your name and message radioed up into space over and over and over, just keep dishing out—no pun intended--$15.00 (US currency) to Sent Forever. That’s £9.95 if you’re a Brit. Which I’m not. So I’ll just say $15.00. I’ll probably submit another message a few months from now...this time devoted to either Lauren Conrad or Megan Fox. Probably Lauren Conrad. Only kidding. That’s what happens when you don’t have a girlfriend—err, loved one. That is all.