Astronomy: Project Ozma—Will They Hear Us?

Search for Life on Other Worlds.

In the early 1960s changes in astronomy brought about Project Ozma—a search for other worlds with intelligent life—named after the princess of L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz. Dr. Frank Drake was the chief astronomer involved. The government sponsored Drake in Project Ozma, through the National Science Foundation (which owned the observatory), to make an initial search for life on other worlds. He worked at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Deer Creek Valley in West Virginia, where the local population referred to Drake's research as "Project Little Green Men." Drake sent and listened for radio-wave messages, hoping to make contact with extraterrestials. He was limited by the range of the radio telescope. Though he could listen to close stars, it was impossible to search the whole universe.

Narrowing the Search.

Dr. Otto Struve, Russian-born director of the observatory,...

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