On 10 October 2016, at 20:00 GMT (22:00 CEST), ESA’s 35m deep-space tracking station at Cebreros, Spain, will take part in an epic project, A Simple Response to an Elemental Message, in which a global message – a sort of interstellar time capsule – will be transmitted toward Polaris, the North Star, 434 light years away.

Anyone may contribute to this message by accessing the project website and providing (deadline 16 September) a personal reply to the challenge question: “How will our present environmental interactions shape the future?”

All submissions in response to this globally pertinent question will be transmitted into deep space via the Cebreros station to commence an interstellar, light-speed journey; in effect, creating a culturally-inspired, ‘message in a bottle’ of global perspectives encoded within signals that will propagate into space for eons.

'A Simple Response...' is a publicly generated Interstellar radio message to be transmitted from Earth to the North Star in October 2016 via ESA's Cebreros deep space tracking station in Spain. Credit: P. Quast

‘A Simple Response…’ is a publicly generated interstellar radio message to be transmitted from Earth to the North Star in October 2016 via ESA’s Cebreros deep space tracking station in Spain. Credit: P. Quast

We’re delighted today to be able to post a copy of the project’s call for participation (see below) and share the website URL; even if you don’t wish to submit a reply, it’s a fascinating project and well worth a visit. The deadline to submit your response is Friday, 16 September.

More information and regular updates

Twitter @ASimpleResponse

Facebook – A Simple Response

Call for participation

A publicly compiled, interstellar radio transmission

Last call for submissions for an interstellar radio transmission to Polaris [α UMi Aa]!

On 10 October 2016, the publicly-generated ‘A Simple Response to an Elemental Message’ transmission will be beamed from the European Space Agency’s Cebreros deep-space tracking station into interstellar space to commence its 434-light-year journey. In light of this confirmed date, we are now able to continue to accept submissions to the question “How will our present environmental interactions shape the future?” until 16 September 2016!

By submitting text contributions from across the globe for this interstellar time capsule, participants will be contributing to ongoing dialogue concerning how our civilisation collectively perceives its role within shaping the future of the environment and establish a means by which we may collectively analyse these perspectives for cross-cultural universals within this single, global human community. Be part of this journey and join over 2500 individuals from 130 countries in this odyssey via https://www.asimpleresponse.org.

As an extension of this initiative, we will also be including ‘honorary mentions’ within this interstellar ‘message in a bottle’;  phrases and quotes that have historically shaped the way in which our species has learned and reflected upon its role within shaping Earth’s collective biosphere. Currently, this extension includes Sagan’s iconic Pale Blue Dot quote, a partial citation from ‘On the Origins of the Species’ and also the first inter-species message in response to this initiative’s posed question. Please contact us if you wish to nominate any phrase/quotes for honorary mentions!

About this project

A Simple Response to an Elemental Message is a not-for-profit, publicly-generated interstellar radio message due to be transmitted on a one-way journey toward the Pole Star on 10 October 2016. This initiative was developed in collaboration with the UK Astronomy Technology Centre, the European Space Agency and the University of Edinburgh, along with researchers at the Johns Hopkins University and also the European Southern Observatory.

Wish to know more about this initiative or participate in this transmission? Please visit the purpose-built project website (available in eight languages) to explore, interact, investigate the research and – if interested – contribute your own unique perspective(s) for inclusion within this interstellar journey.

For updates and to follow progress of this interstellar odyssey, please access:

Twitter @ASimpleResponse

Facebook – A Simple Response

All contributors are welcome, so feel free to extend this invitation to colleagues and friends!