NY Daily News

‘Tweets in Space’ plans to send Twitter messages to a planet that may support life
Scientists say the recently discovered planet has the potential to support some form of life
Brian Browdie for the NY Daily News

“Tweets in Space,” a live performance event expected to take place this fall, will broadcast Twitter messages to a planet 22 light-years away that scientists say may support life.

“Tweets in Space,” a live performance event expected to take place this fall, will broadcast Twitter messages to a planet 22 light-years away that scientists say may support life.

Get ready to tweet to the cosmos.

Twitter users around the world may be able to find followers 22 light-years away thanks to “Tweets in Space,” a project that hopes to beam 140-character missives to a potentially habitable planet this fall.

During a live performance set for September 21 at the Albuquerque Balloon Museum, collaborators Scott Kildall and Nathaniel Stern plan to beam tweets carrying the hashtag #tweetsinspace all the way to GJ667Cc.

Scientists say the recently discovered planet has the potential to support some form of life.

“We look at it from the standpoint of democratizing deep space transmissions,” Kildall told the Daily News. “All tweets sent during the performance, whether you’re at the event or at home on your computer, will be transmitted.”

“We thought it would be worthwhile to show the sea change in how information is broadcast in our culture,” he added.

Kildall and Stern expect to send out their interplanetary Twitter feed via a high-powered radio transmitter. They hope to pay for the gear with donations they collect via the fundraising website rockethub.com.

So far, they’ve amassed nearly $1,600 of the $8,500 they say they’ll need to beam the messages a distance of five light-years.

There hope is that five light years is far enough into space for any ET’s on GJ667Cc who might be tuning in to pick up the signal.

“We’re making some assumptions about their listening technology,” Stern told the Daily News. “We’re assuming a similar intelligence to our own can pick out patterns.”

A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, or the equivalent of 5.88 trillion miles.

Stern says he and Kildall are discussing the project with scientists in the research, governmental and commercial fields who may be able to contribute expertise in sending signals into outer space.

On Daily News.com