Jill Tarter — Questions and answers

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What kind of work does Jill Tarter do at the SETI Institute?

Choices

  1. She writes stories about aliens.
  2. She searches for whispers from beyond using powerful radio telescopes. ✓
  3. She studies ancient stars and planets.
  4. She builds new types of rockets.

Answer: She searches for whispers from beyond using powerful radio telescopes.

From page 1

What question did physicist Enrico Fermi famously ask in 1950?

Choices

  1. "How big is the universe?"
  2. "Where is everybody?" ✓
  3. "Are we alone?"
  4. "What is a galaxy?"

Answer: "Where is everybody?"

From page 2

What was the name of the first modern SETI experiment conducted by Frank Drake in 1960?

Choices

  1. Project Phoenix
  2. Project Stargazer
  3. Project Ozma ✓
  4. Project Whisper

Answer: Project Ozma

From page 3

What analogy did Jill Tarter often use to describe the challenge of SETI?

Choices

  1. Finding a lost sock in a big laundry pile.
  2. Finding a needle in a cosmic haystack. ✓
  3. Finding a specific grain of sand on a beach.
  4. Finding a tiny fish in a vast ocean.

Answer: Finding a needle in a cosmic haystack.

From page 4

What is the "water hole" in SETI, as described by Jill Tarter and her colleagues?

Choices

  1. A special telescope built underwater.
  2. A quiet region of space where planets have water.
  3. A clear band of radio frequencies between hydrogen and hydroxyl lines. ✓
  4. A place where alien ships refuel.

Answer: A clear band of radio frequencies between hydrogen and hydroxyl lines.

From page 5

What was Project Phoenix, launched in 1995 under Jill Tarter's leadership?

Choices

  1. A project to build a new space station.
  2. A targeted search for extraterrestrial intelligence focusing on sun-like stars. ✓
  3. A mission to send a probe to another galaxy.
  4. A study of ancient Earth civilizations.

Answer: A targeted search for extraterrestrial intelligence focusing on sun-like stars.

From page 6

How is the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) different from a single, massive dish?

Choices

  1. It only listens to one star at a time.
  2. It uses 42 smaller dishes working together. ✓
  3. It is powered by solar energy only.
  4. It is hidden deep underground.

Answer: It uses 42 smaller dishes working together.

From page 7

Even though Project Phoenix and ATA haven't found alien signals, how have they helped science?

Choices

  1. They helped build better spaceships for astronauts.
  2. They improved our understanding of Earth's weather patterns.
  3. They developed techniques used in conventional radio astronomy to understand pulsars and quasars. ✓
  4. They created new types of medical equipment.

Answer: They developed techniques used in conventional radio astronomy to understand pulsars and quasars.

From page 8

According to Jill Tarter, what does the absence of an alien signal tell us?

Choices

  1. It means there is no life anywhere else.
  2. It is a piece of data that helps us understand the universe better. ✓
  3. It means we should stop searching.
  4. It means the aliens are hiding from us.

Answer: It is a piece of data that helps us understand the universe better.

From page 9

What is a major part of Jill Tarter's legacy in science?

Choices

  1. She discovered a new planet.
  2. She proved that aliens exist.
  3. She transformed SETI from a fringe idea into a respected scientific field. ✓
  4. She built the first rocket to reach Mars.

Answer: She transformed SETI from a fringe idea into a respected scientific field.

From page 10