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SETI
- Allen Telescope Array
- Optical SETI
- Interstellar Message Construction
- Project Phoenix 1995-2004
- Background Science
- History of SETI
- Center for SETI Research Team
- Other people doing SETI
- Hollywood's View of SETI
In the Footsteps of Doctor Who
by Benito Sanchez - Hardware Engineer
The first time I heard about SETI and saw the Lovell telescope was on TV. I was an avid fan of the long running BBC science fiction series Dr. Who and watched in suspense as Tom Baker, my favorite of the Doctors, fell from the top floor of Green Tower and died. Being Dr. Who, a nearly immortal Time Lord, he was reborn as another actor. Later, during my high school years, I learned more about SETI on NOVA, another great television program. Little did I know that I would one day apply for a job to do SETI research.
I was so excited to find that the job ad I had answered, some seven years ago, was really an opportunity to work at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, CA. I was somewhat scared to go in for the interview. I was afraid I'd blow my chance to work on such an exciting project. Well, my fears proved for naught, because they saw fit to hire me.
A few years later when I found we would be moving our observations to Arecibo, Puerto Rico as the main site, and Jodrell Bank, England as the remote site, I was immediately reminded of my first exposure to SETI. I hoped I would get the chance to visit the Lovell Telescope, and knew that with five years of observations to do, I'd very likely get the chance.
Last fall I got that chance and I loved it. It was cold, raining most of the time, and foggy, but it was England, it was Jodrell, and it was SETI. I was in my element.
This time the weather has been so nice I've been teasing the locals, asking if we're really in the U.K., and if theyd gone and towed the island round to the Pacific. They laugh and admit the weather is unusually nice this spring. It is partly the hospitality of the people, partly the beauty of the countryside, and admittedly, partly the great beer that I love about this place. Mostly though, it's the chance to use the same telescope that Doctor Who used to fight evil in the universe. But of course, the Doctor never had to deal with RF.
We initially had some trouble with our RF front end up in Green Tower, the one that can been seen extending lower down the structure than its mate on the other side of the scope. I was excited to go up to see the Lovell Telescope up close for the first time and to walk where the Doctor might have walked. We managed to find the problem, a bad cable, and replaced it without incident. Still, it was exciting just going up there.
Now, we have all the RF and IF equipment working, but our detectors are being stubborn. They refuse to produce good data past the first observation, and it's keeping the remote out of the action. For reasons we still cannot understand, the system in Arecibo is working, but ours is misbehaving and cannot be used for observing. We are very frustrated, and I'll probably have to extend my stay to help solve the problems. I was to be relieved at mid-run so I could go home and hug my kids, but it looks like I'll have to stay and be frustrated, along with everybody else, at least until we get this thing going again.
It's strange how much one can enjoy a trip while at the same time finding it unbearable. I enjoy the work, I enjoy the travel, I especially enjoy being at this telescope, and yet I loath the frustration of not observing, and not being successful at problem solving. Most especially, I miss my family.
Maybe a good dinner, some nice conversation, and a couple of pints of great English beer will improve my mood. It's off to dinner at our one of our favorite local pubs, maybe "The Dog" at Over Peover, or "The Crown" at Goostrey.