One year to decipher a simulated extraterrestrial signal

Oct. 29 () –

White dots arranged in five groups on a black background. This is the simulated extraterrestrial signal transmitted from Mars and deciphered after a year of deciphering work.

On June 7, 2024, multimedia artist Daniela de Paulis received this simple, retro-looking image in her inbox that represents five amino acids. It was the solution to a cosmic puzzle sent from ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) in May 2023, when the European spacecraft played extraterrestrial as part of the multidisciplinary art project. “A sign in space.”

After three radio astronomy observatories on Earth intercepted the signal, the challenge was first to extract the message from the raw data of the radio signal and, second, to decipher it. In just 10 days, a community of 5,000 citizen scientists gathered online and managed to extract the signal. The second task took longer and required some visionary minds.

American citizens Ken and Keli Chaffin cracked the code by following their intuition and running simulations for hours and days. The father-daughter team discovered that the message contained movement, suggesting some type of cell formation and life forms. Amino acids and proteins are the building blocks of life.

Now that the cryptic signal has been deciphered, the search for meaning begins. The interpretation of the message, like any work of art, remains open, reports the ESA.

De Paulis crafted the message with a small group of astronomers and computer scientists, with support from ESA, the SETI Institute and the Green Bank Observatory.