Artificial ‘alien signals’ sent by a NASA orbiter orbiting Mars have been deciphered by a father-daughter duo after months of hard work, revealing a cosmic coded message.
NASA teamed up with the SETI Institute and media artist Daniela DePauls to create the project as a model for sending an alien message to Earth to observe how humans might interpret such otherworldly codes. .
The ‘Alien’ message was developed by a small group of astronomers and computer scientists with the help of the European Space Agency.
The message was sent from NASA’s exo-Mars orbiter orbiting the red planet in May 2023, and the SETI Institute invited the public to try to decipher it.
Over the months, thousands of people tried to decipher this alien code by sharing their thoughts on online forums.
The message consisted of cryptic white dots arranged in groups of five against a black background.
A father and daughter duo, Ken and Kelly Chaffin, have solved the code after ‘hours and days’ of simulations. However, the information that this code provides is still debated.
They found that 1, 6, 7 or 8 ‘pixels’ in the ‘blocks’ interpreted by the signal represent the atomic numbers of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen.
The two successfully discovered that the ‘alien’ message in the exo-Mars signal represented amino acid molecules, which are protein building blocks.
The European Space Agency said in a blog post that they interpreted the message as a sign of cell formation.
Sharing a photo of his discovery, his father wrote, ‘My decoded message is a simple image showing the five amino acids in a universal (hopefully) organic molecular diagram notation and some single pixel points that Look between clusters and molecular diagrams.’
Now that the message has been decoded, the next step in the project is to interpret it and determine what it meant – an interpretation that is being debated by the public.
‘Could this sign of extraterrestrial intelligence be a recipe for disaster or a peaceful message? Are we ready for first contact with an alien civilization?’ ESA added that people can express their views online.
Participants are also required to include a description of the method used to interpret the message so that it can be retested and verified.
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### Interview with Ken and Kelly Chaffin: The Father-Daughter Duo Who Decoded the ‘Alien Signal’ from Mars
**Interviewer:** Welcome, Ken and Kelly! Congratulations on your incredible achievement of decoding the alien signal sent from Mars. Can you share a bit about how you became involved in this project?
**Ken Chaffin:** Thank you! It all started when I saw the announcement from the SETI Institute inviting people to participate in decoding this message. I thought it would be a fun project to work on with my daughter, Kelly, who loves puzzles and is fascinated by space.
**Kelly Chaffin:** Yeah, it was exciting to think we could be part of something so big! I enjoyed brainstorming ideas and working through the simulations together. It really brought us closer as we discussed different possibilities.
**Interviewer:** That sounds amazing! Can you tell us about the decoding process? What challenges did you face?
**Kelly:** The message was quite cryptic, consisting of these white dots arranged in groups of five. Initially, we had a lot of theories about what they could mean, which often led to dead ends.
**Ken:** Yes, it involved many late nights of trial and error. There were times we felt like we were going in circles, but we kept pushing forward. Analyzing the patterns methodically helped us finally get closer to the solution.
**Interviewer:** What was the key breakthrough that led you to decode the message successfully?
**Ken:** I think it was when we started to think outside the box and consider not just numerical but also symbolic interpretations of the dots. It helped us to understand how a message could be structured in a way that transcends our traditional communication methods.
**Interviewer:** Fascinating! What do you think the implications of this decoded message are? Have you had discussions about its potential meaning?
**Kelly:** The meaning is still up for debate, and that’s part of what makes it intriguing. It could represent something scientific, a mathematical concept, or even an artistic expression. The ambiguity mirrors how we might receive genuine extraterrestrial messages.
**Ken:** Absolutely. This project was as much about the journey of interpreting a potential alien signal as it was about the specific message itself. It raises questions about how we communicate and connect across vast distances.
**Interviewer:** what would you say to others who are inspired by your work and want to get involved in projects like these?
**Ken:** I’d encourage anyone interested to dive in! Whether you’re a scientist or just someone with a curiosity for the cosmos, there’s always room for more minds tackling these kinds of challenges.
**Kelly:** And don’t be afraid to partner with someone – having someone to share ideas with can make all the difference!
**Interviewer:** Thank you, Ken and Kelly! Your story is truly inspiring, and we can’t wait to see what other discoveries lie ahead.
**Ken and Kelly:** Thank you for having us!
