“Save Arecibo: Write to Congress”

"I want to ask you all for your support for a project that means a lot to me. If you have followed my blog from the beginning, then you know that I am an avid SciFi fan. You also know that I am a SETI supporter and participant. At the present time SETI is about to lose one of its major tools, use of the Arecibo Observatory.
Arecibo Observatory has the world’s largest radio telescope. For years, I and thousands others, maybe even millions, have joined SETI. We download software onto our computers that allows SETI to send us data collected by the Arecibo radio telescope. Our computers also use that program to analyze the data and then send it back to SETI. The data we send back to SETI has been analyzed for certain types of data. This task saves the SETI a tremendous amount of time and manpower.

Besides looking for “E.T.,” the data we download and analyze has led to the discovery of new stars, pulsars, and other Astronomical discoveries in space. If a discovery is picked up in the data my computer analyzes, I get credit for the “find,” as do all other SETI members for their finds. We even receive certificates showing our SETI participation and how much data our computer has analyzed.

But, all this work will soon come to an end. Quite possibly, SETI faces its own demise. Congress is about to pass bills cutting the budget for the Arecibo Observatory. Please read the letter below I received from SETI about this latest struggle faced by SETI in its search for “E.T..”

Dear stargazer,

Arecibo Observatory, the world’s largest radio telescope and the source for the SETI@home data that your computer analyzes, faces massive budget cuts that will END its ability to continue the search for life beyond Earth. The decision to ensure full funding currently rests upon votes in Congress on Senate Bill S.2862 and House Resolution H.R. 3737. These bills desperately need more support.

Please take a moment to help us SAVE ARECIBO.

Clicking the link below will direct you to a web page that allows you to print out letters prepared for your Senators and Congressional Representative urging them to support Arecibo. Printing and mailing the letters is really easy, too!
You will also have the chance to add a few personal thoughts, if you wish, to let your Senators and Representative know why this funding is important to you!
And if you’re really feeling passionate about saving Arecibo, please use these letters as the basis for letters you write yourself, urging your congressmen and women to vote to save Arecibo.

Because our representatives in Congress rarely give much attention to all the email they receive, printing out and MAILING these letters via standard U.S. Postal mail remains our best option for contacting them and our best hope for saving Arecibo (The second best option is to call your representatives). Your 42 cent stamps on these letters could help us get the millions of dollars needed to save Arecibo.

Our search cannot continue without the necessary support. Your work, as SETI@home participants, represents an indispensable resource for conducting the search. Now, we need your help to ensure that our other most valuable resource - our eyes and ears to the cosmos - can continue to probe the universe as we seek to answer the question: Is there anybody out there?

Save Arecibo Letter

Thank you for your help,

The SETI@home Team

Please, go to the above link and show your support for the Arecibo Observatory."
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