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Dr. Dave DeBoer
“The central question of the SETI Institute, which is, ‘Are we alone in the universe?’ is really one of the very small handful of questions that basically every human being has pondered, if only for a moment or two,” says engineer Dave DeBoer. As his colleague, astronomer Mike Davis notes, we live in a time uniquely well suited for the search. “We are the first generation of humans with the opportunity to find an observational answer to the age-old question, ‘Are we alone?’” Davis says. “Either way the answer comes out, the results are profound.”
As the Director of SETI Projects at the SETI Institute, Davis is responsible for implementing varied strategies for seeking evidence of intelligence beyond Earth. Chief among his duties is overseeing the construction of the Allen Telescope Array (ATA), a world-class radio telescope being built in northern California by the SETI Institute and the University of California, Berkeley. The ATA will combine 350 dishes, each twenty feet in diameter, to form a telescope that scientists will use for SETI observations at the same time they conduct other astronomical research. “The Allen Telescope Array is unique in providing shared facilities that support simultaneous research in SETI and in other radio astronomical fields,” says Davis, “thus enlarging the support group and sharing the skills needed for a modern observing instrument.”
“I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the Allen Telescope Array is a paradigm for the future of radio telescopes,” says Dave DeBoer, Project Manager for the telescope. “After all, what’s the best way to make relatively cheap, large collecting area telescopes? It certainly looks like the approach taken here – using lots of small dishes – is the way to do it.” By operating twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the ATA will dramatically increase the number of stars observed. “The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence needed a full-time world class telescope, because to date, there's only been sporadic searches. And really to have a good chance of finding a signal,” DeBoer explains, “you need to look all the time, lots of different places, lots of different frequencies.”
“The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is evolving toward a multi-generational effort,” Davis observes. “Part of our task is to devise effective mechanisms to ensure the longevity of the effort, so that each generation carries out the search at a level commensurate with the technical capabilities available at the time, and passes the results, concepts, and motivation forward to the next generation.” If the ATA detects intelligence beyond Earth, the implications would be profound. “If, as most scientists now anticipate, Earth is but one of many planets harboring life, possibly intelligent life, detection will define us as recent arrivals in a galactic culture,” suggests Davis. “In the perhaps less likely event that, after exhaustive search, we find with growing likelihood that life on Earth is unique, what an immense burden that implies in terms of caring for our fragile ecosystem.”
- SETI Institute Explorer, Special Edition 2005