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Now's your chance to beam a message to aliens

Now's your chance to beam a message to aliens

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Data will be transmitted to the New Horizons space probe studying Pluto

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NASA has greenlit an independent effort to upload a crowdsourced message from Earth to the New Horizons space probe, according to Space.com.The project was started by Jon Lomberg, who helped create the human time capsules carried on board the Voyager spacecrafts.

Crowdsourced message from Earth

According to the New Horizons Message Initiative website, the missive will take a digital format, allowing it to be updated in the future if necessary. While the exact contents have yet to be determined, the final product may be comprised of images, sounds, 3D maps, and software. Space.com writes that Lomberg, NASA, and online voters are among those who will be responsible for curating the collated material. The results will eventually be streamed to the New Horizons probe once it has completed its study of Pluto and its adjacent satellites.

Having secured approval from NASA, the next step is to raise an estimated $500,000 through Kickstarter in order to fund expenses for the next three years. An official announcement about the project is scheduled for August 25th, and will contain submission guidelines.