World Space Week

October 4 – 10, this year will represent the 10th celebration of World Space Week. The United Nations General Assembly declared World Space Week in 1999. The celebration of World Space Week is under the guidance of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs based in Vienna, Austria. 

There are annual event at the national and local levels held all over the planet, but one really exciting area is where teachers can use the week to get their students interested in space.

This year SentForever are working with the WSW executive to allow every school and every student, as well as members of the public, to send a message into space. Messages can be sent here and they will be transmitted at the speed of light into deep space.

The messages travel so fast that if an eight year old sent a message, then by the time they leave school at 18, their message would have had time to pass by 11 of the nearest stars to Earth. It would also have traveled around 58,000,000,000,000 miles by that time or about 94 million million kilometers.

If you know of a science teacher or a school that may want to give it a go – send this on to them!

Hello from Earth

Hello from SentForever to Hello from Earth. It’s great to see another opportunity for people to send mesages into space with the Hello from Earth site sending their message on 24th August 2009. 

They are transmitting a message towards a planet that orbits around the star Gliese 581 which will arrive there around December 2029. Even though deep space messages travel at the speed of light, their radio signal will need to cross 20.3 light-years (or 192 trillion kms) of interstellar space before reaching the planet.

It sounds like a long way, but Gliese is one of the 100 closest stars to Earth, making it a top target for sending and hopefully receiving a message within our lifetimes. Any response will need to travel the same way back, so unless Gliesans have improved communication technologies, the soonest we could hope to receive an answer would be in 42 years around 2051.

The message was created by Cosmos magazine to celebrate National Science Week in Australia which is an annual event now in its 12th year. It’s also supported by the Australian Government’s Department of Innovation. Industry, Science and Research. Good to see a government being on board with a project like this.

You may remember that in April 2009 SentForever transmitted a message from the people of Belgium called Hartelijke Groeten aan Iedereen (Warm Greetings to Everyone) which was the message created by a Belgian television show. We’ve sent a Hello from Earth message naturallyand we certainly wish them well with their transmission!

Asha Puthli’s Space Talk to Apollo 11 Space Walk: Puthli’s Jazz Funk Classic Sent Into Deep Space

In celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon – and as a tribute to NASA and the pioneering spirit of Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, the first space walkers to land on the moon – “Space Talk,” Asha Puthli’s classic track has been transmitted into deep space. Last year The Beatles’ “Across the Universe” was successfully transmitted by NASA.

“Space Talk” is travelling across the Universe at the speed of light, that’s 186,000 miles every second. Travelling at the speed of light the transmission the song could complete 1,401 return journeys between the Earth and the moon in an hour.

In a strange twist of fate, 40 years ago the spectacular image of the Moon landing graced the front cover of Life Magazine (Dec. 12, 1969 issue). The back cover is a double page fold out ad featuring Asha Puthli’s first modeling assignment after she landed in the U.S. From Space Walk to Space Talk.

In recent years, the underground 1970’s classic from the album The Devil is Loose has become a heavily sampled popular hip-hop break record. Asha Puthli has co-writer credits with Jay-Z, P.Diddy, Big Moe, Jermaine Dupri, SWV and The Notorious B.I.G. on the track “The World is Filled” from the multi-platinum album, Life After Death.

Recognized in critical circles as a fusion pioneer, Asha’s distinctive, unusual recordings predate fusion of East and West celebrated today in styles like hip-hop, worldbeat, and electronica by almost 20 years. Acclaimed for her vocals on the “Science Fiction” album by jazz iconoclast Ornette Coleman, Asha shared the Downbeat Critics’ Poll award for “Best Female Jazz Vocalist” alongside Ella Fitzgerald and Dee Dee Bridgewater.

“Space Talk” was hailed as an instant classic by the New York Times and Thom Jurek of allmusic.com praises the record as “a masterpiece of snakey, spaced-out soul and pre-mainstream disco. More information on “Space Talk” and Asha Puthli can be found at www.AshaPuthli.com.

Free space message

By Chris Thomason

I was 10 when I watched Neil Armstrong take that famous first step onto the moon’s surface. Even at that age I knew I was part of an incredibly emotional moment in history.  

Unfortunately, there aren’t many emotional moments in space any more for the average person. There are the occasional tragic moments but they are fortunately very rare.  

When Stephanie and I set up SentForever.com we wanted to allow our customers to be able to create their own emotional experience in a way that was truly new and unique – and very special too.  

At SentForever, we allow people to send messages into space and some of the messages sent (especially regarding lost loved ones) are so charged with personal emotion that we know we are helping people in a number of different ways. People also send many fun and happy love messages and messages of their hopes and dreams too.  

To celebrate the 40^th anniversary of man landing on the moon SentForever.com are launching a service to allow people to send free messages into space. To send your own free message into space and into eternity just click here.  

You can now send someone special a message that will last forever! A celebration of the most emotional moment that NASA and space travel has ever given mankind!

Messages to aliens

We are often asked if aliens will ever receive the messages that we transmit. The answer is that we don’t actually know. As our messages travel forever there’s obviously a chance that someday someone somewhere may actually receive it. But until that happens….

Quite a few of the messages that we send are from people who feel that we aren’t alone on this planet and that out there somewhere in the Universe are other beings. Whether these other beings are an alien race or even God or some other supreme being they probably couldn’t say. But it’s just that belief that we aren’t alone in this Universe.

It’s always an interesting question to ask whether we are alone, but the answer that Jodie Foster gave to this question in the film Contact was that “If we are all alone, then it seems an awful waste of space”.

Many of the people who send messages are asking for guidance or inspiration, but especially they’d like some kind of sign or acknowledgement that we aren’t alone. 

How people receive that acknowledgement is probably entirely unique to each person. However, at SentForever we are great believers in synchronicity and we feel that we sometimes receive inspiration and guidance in the form of unusual coincidences. But more about synchronicity another time…

Moon Message

It’s almost 40 years since man landed on the moon and Neil Armstrong uttered those famous words “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.  Apparently he was supposed to say “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” but the “a” was missed out. 

Initially, Armstrong confirmed that he did say “a man” but the technology of the day failed to pick it up. But a digital audio analysis conducted by Peter Shann Ford, an Australia-based computer programmer, claims that Armstrong did, in fact, say “a man”, but the “a” was inaudible due to the limitations of communications technology of the time. Armstrong has since said that he prefers the version that is now generally accepted.

Buzz Aldrin who was the second man on the moon said “Magnificent desolation” as his first words after stepping onto the moon’s surface.

What I find interesting to think about is just what might have been said if somebody were landing on the moon for the first time today. How would the issues that affect us right now have influenced what was said?

If major corporate sponsors had been involved, would the astronaut’s space suits have looked more like a Formula One racing driver’s outfit covered in branded patches? Would we have got more of a pithy sound bite rather than a dramatic statement? Who knows!

However, to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Armstrong’s famous message from the moon, SentForever will shortly be allowing people to send free messages into space. Maybe your words for your loved one will mean just as much to them as Armstrong’s did to mankind forty years ago.

What do you think man’s first words from the moon might be if we landed there today?

Immortality – with SentForever

Immortality means unending life or enduring fame. Well, perhaps we do a little of this at SentForever as we allow people to send messages or images of themselves and their loved ones that will last forever. 

We read about an artist who uses the ashes of loved ones her clients have lost in the paintings she does. Val Thompson from Ash2Art adds the secret ingredient to her paint to create a unique, personalised and lasting tribute. She just mixes it in, adding another dash ‘to help build up a bit of texture on the canvas’.

This is a wonderful concept as it is a highly personalized and very meaningful way of capturing an image that means a lot to the person and yet which is also so intimate, in that it contains the lost one’s ashes.

One client lost her husband from a heart attack the day after returning from a beach holiday. Val took some of the ashes and created three wonderful beach scenes to capture the last memories of the lady’s husband

We love this idea as it helps someone’s memory live on after their death in much the same way that our remembrance messages do.

Hartelijke Groeten aan Iedereen distance travelled

The Hartelijke Groeten aan Iedereen golden record from the people of Belgium is now travelling through space on its eternal journey. If you want to track how far it has travelled at any time just go to the SentForever home page and enter this tracking code – SF59077054410D05 – in the “Track your message” box.

The golden record message containing a video of the life and success of the Belgian people was the end result of the Belgium TV Een series Hartelijke Groeten aan Iedereen. This radio message overtook the original golden records sent on the 1977 Voyager space probes after only 12 hours. This is because the SentForever radio transmissions travel at the speed of light which is about 671,000,000 miles per hour.

The Hartelijke Groeten aan Iedereen TV series (which means Warm Greetings from Everyone) ends with a deep space transmission by SentForever. It has been nominated for a Golden Rose at the prestigious Montreux Festival in the entertainment category. We wish all the Hartelijke Groeten aan Iedereen team success at the Festival in May this year.

Hartelijke Groeten aan Iedereen – or Warm Greetings to Everyone

A golden record from the people of Belgium was transmitted into deep space by SentForever this week. In the final episode of this six-week prime time TV Een series,Tom Waes concluded his global trip at Goonhilly in Cornwall, UK.

There he asked us if SentForever would transmit a golden record containing a video message showing the life and success of Belgian people into eternity. Tom had been round the world speaking with various people about sending an eternal message.

The original golden records were sent on the Voyager space probes in 1977 and the contents were compiled by Carl Sagan and his team. Tom Waes met with Carl’s wife and son to discuss the significance of the original Golden Record. He also met with Dr Jill Tarter from SETI, who is featured in the film Contact and is played by Jodie Foster.

In the series Tom Waes asks Jill Tarter if she can transmit his Golden Record, but she says “No” as SETI’s dishes are used to receive signals from space and not to transmit them. She does tell him she knows of places where signals can be transmitted from. In the next shot, Tom is approaching Goonhilly and he says that he thinks he has found the place!

Underneath the biggest dish Arthur, Tom interviews Des Prouse for some background and history on the BT Goonhilly site and finally meets with Chris. He says SentForever is his last hope and begs Chris to send the Golden Record. The series ends with a champagne toast below Arthur as Chris confirms that SentForever will transmit the message!

Darren Farris’ new single launched into deep space

Los Angeles, California  April 7, 2009 — Darren Farris may be picking up new fans in some unlikely places this week, after he becomes the first American artist to launch a new song into deep space.

The Los Angeles based singer/songwriter’s latest single ‘Save Me’ was transmitted into deep space on Wednesday, by SentForever. It was broadcast in the form of radio waves that travel at the speed of light and will travel through space for the rest of time.

Traveling at a speed of 670 million miles an hour, ‘Save Me’ passed by the sun eight minutes after transmission and left our solar system just five hours later.

When asked about his music someday being the first musical communication to be received by extraterrestrial life, Farris says, “Hopefully the lyrics will be meaningful and representative of mankind’s feelings towards each other, and of course, everybody likes a good song!”

However, he jokes, “I just hope they don’t wake me up in the middle of the night asking for a tour of the planet.”

SentForever usually transmits people’s messages of love, remembrance and celebration into deep space where they travel through space and time for all eternity.

Stephanie Baillache, co-founder of SentForever says, “Darren’s song ‘Save Me’ is a very meaningful song and he deserves to be the first US artist to debut a single this way.” She adds, “It’s also great that if the transmission is ever received by some distant life form, a ballad like ‘Save Me’ is one of the first songs they receive from Earth.”