The first telescope designed to search for alien life began operating this month from northern California.
The state-of-the-art radio telescope, being operated by the SETI Institute, is still undergoing development and will be able to examine more stars in a year or two than Earth-bound scientists have been able to study in more than 45 years, the Washington Post reported Monday.
“We could have a billion intelligent cultures with radio waves buzzing around them, but we haven’t had the capability to detect them,” said astronomer Michael M. Davis, who overseas the project.
The Allen Telescope Array, named after its most generous donor, Microsoft’s co-founder Paul Allen, will be made up of 350 or more small silver aluminum dishes spread across 90 acres.
Many of the components used in the new telescope are basic off-the-shelf parts, making it cheaper and easier to build than its counterparts. While a large telescope might cost $200 million to build, Davis said, the ATA will cost about $35 million.
