Invitation to ETI: Richard Braastad

Who We Are: Richard Braastad

Mr. Richard Braastad is a particularly welcome addition to this group because he too tries to communicate with aliens. He has sent messages to stars that might harbor extraterrestrial intelligence. He coordinated an international science team that transmitted "Cosmic Calls" -- interstellar radio transmissions. Broadcast by a powerful radio astronomy antenna in Ukraine, Cosmic Calls included mathematically-encoded scientific messages about our solar system, our planet, and ourselves. The transmissions also included non-mathematical messages, including the 'hello' page from this Invitation to ETI Web site! In fact, Braastad likens this Web site to the Cosmic Calls in that both projects attempt to establish Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence - CETI. A futurist by training, Braastad works primarily as a writer. For his master's project in Studies of the Future (University of Houston - Clear Lake), Braastad - with invaluable advice from Dr. Allen Tough - wrote The Extraterrestrial Sermons, a set of scenarios depicting how communication with an extraterrestrial intelligence in the mid-21st century might impact major world religions. The scenarios assume ET responds to a Cosmic Call by composing a message with the Cosmic Call's own mathematical language. A long-time member of the National Space Society and of the Houston Astronomical Society, he has also served as the editor of a newsletter for space activists, and has worked for the Mid-Continent Technology Transfer Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center where he sought commercial applications for NASA-generated technologies.

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