A new online project will allow anyone with Internet access to send messages into space, and possible to aliens Space.com reported.
The Lone Signal Project will launch June 17 and will be the first-ever streaming message aimed towards extraterrestrials.
"As soon as I can remember, I looked up at the stars and I thought, 'Is there anybody looking back at me?' I think there's just an inherent curiosity we all have," Lone Signal chief marketing officer Ernesto Qualizza said during a press event "We all want to see what's on the other side of the next hill, and this is an extension of that curiosity."
The project will allow anyone to participate in a number of ways: users can send their own "beam" out into space, dedicate a beam to a significant other, track their beams and share the information, and look at other people's messages.
The first text-only message will be free, but after that, users can buy four credits for $0.99. A picture message will cost three credits and a text message one.
There will also be a continuous "hailing message" from the team intended to give Earth's position in the universe, the periodic table of elements, and describe a hydrogen atom in binary code.
"It's important that it is feasible for anyone to take part in this experiment because it is so unique," Qualizza said. "It's never been that case that anyone on the face of the Earth can commune with the cosmos, and we are opening up that portal to the masses."
The scientists working on the project have chosen a particular spot in space to send the messages, a star system called Gliese 526.
The star is about 17.6 light-years away and is a good candidate for holding extraterrestrial life, though orbiting planets are yet to be found.
"We want it to be fun, but we're also looking at long-term strategy," Lone Signal co-founder Pierre Fabre said. "We're targeting the most logical, nearest stars now."
The team said they might consider moving the project to a different star system in the future.
The messages will be broadcast through the Jamesburg Earth Station in Central California. Researchers have reserved the satellite for 30 years, but they hope to extend the project for even longer.
Earth already emits plenty of radio waves, but they're not strong enough to reach far enough out into space for there to be a chance of extraterrestrial contact. The Lone Signal Project will send out strong and guided signals.
The team believes even if we don't make contact with extraterrestrials, the project could be used to preserve the messages for later.
"There really is a time capsule argument," said chief science officer Jacob Haqq-Misra. "Even if you're not communicating with a 'watcher' now, you're putting this time capsule out into space for all of time."
WATCH: The Jamesburg Earth Station
